Trentemøller

★★★★ Memoria IN MY ROOM. CD/DL/LP

Noise and tranquillity, modular synths and jangle from Danish composer.

A narcotic, shoegazey fug has long lingered over Anders Trentemøller’s work, but it seems to now envelop the Danish electronic composer’s output. Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell is absent this time – she appeared on 2019’s

Obverse – but Trentemøller’s sixth LP still luxuriates in a sheen of glitterball guitar, saturnine electro rock and chugging motorik redolent of Berkshire’s sound explorers. A Summer’s Empty Room wraps Twin Peaks-theme vibes in skirls of otherworldly voices and modular synths. Glow’s opening bars recall the sad cowboy guitars of Slowdive’s Rutti, before ascending into a soundclash of deep beats and unsettling interference. Throughout, the gossamerlight vocals of Lisbet Fritze are a calming presence, especially All Too Soon’s mid-’90s college rock feel. In the hands of less talented producers, Memoria could have skirted pastiche. Instead, Trentemøller’s deftness in balancing light and shade and a multi-layered approach are key to its allure.