Features Our Broken Garden
Following in the footsteps of Beach House, OUR BROKEN GARDEN are Bella Union’s next act to make a great artistic leap with their new album - “Golden Sea” – which is due for release 15th October…
Hailing from Denmark, Our Broken Garden is the sound of sometime Efterklang keyboardist Anna Bronsted’s bewitching voice and songs, with Søren Bigum’s guitars and Moogie Johnson’s bass, plus assorted musical friends. Our Broken Garden’s debut album, “When Your Blackening Shows”, arrived in September 2008 and signalled Anna’s connection to water with various nautical references in her lyrics, and a deeply atmospheric, drifting ebb and flow to the sound - with a serene, torchy
Anna resembling a modern day siren at its heart.
“Golden Sea” is a substantial step forward. There’s more drama and rhythm this time round and Anna’s song-writing has evolved significantly… ‘In The Lowlands’ has an overriding sense of blissed-out serenity sense while ‘Nightsong’ is more haunted. ‘Share’ and ‘Warriors Of Love’ are more typically dreamy numbers before the devastating finale ‘The Dark Red Roses’ where mournful strings preface one of Anna’s most stunning vocals… Click on this soundcloud link to check out the track ‘Garden Grow’…
Like the Golden Sea that names Our Broken Garden’s new album, their music is wide and deep, beautiful and mysterious, its currents inviting you to dive in, but with the potential to drag you under…
Photos: Eva Edsjö & Jacob Borup
Our Broken Garden’s debut album - “When Your Blackening Shows” - was released to much acclaim in September 2008… “OBG’s song’s unfurl slowly, lending the music a poignant, half dreamt quality…
Bronstead's flawlessly calibrated vocals are seductively sweet yet as chilly as an ice cream sundae – imagine Julee Cruise fronting Tindersticks – while the swooning melodies bewitch long after the CD has ended” MOJO – 4 Stars ****
“Dreamily moonlighting from piano-tinkling in Efterklang, Anna Bronstead here does that turn-off-your-mind, float downstream thing… Lovely.” The Independent – 4 Stars ****
“A death waltz of B-movie organs and prickly guitars that sounds like Beth Gibbons auditioning for the next James Bond theme… Wrap up warm and enjoy” NME – 8/10
album: Golden Sea
release: 22.10.2010
Bella Union / Cooperative
listen to the album / official site / myspace