“Bewitching acid folk with a deeply personal edge” – Clash Magazine

Amongst a digital mountain range littered with accomplished folk-ish bands and singersongwriters, it is a rare miracle to come across a cave so rich in jewels as the one beneath Ida Wenøe’s ribcage.

While she has an obvious appreciation of Americana, her sound is very definitely laced with more English undertones: the kind of sound Edward Woodward might have heard downstairs in the local inn had the Wicker Man been filmed in a remote Danish village, while Sarah Lund scoured for clues in her jumper. Like the best of the Nordic Noir leaving the Danish mainland, the recordings are at once both sonically pure and grimy; there’s a shared loneliness that makes you feel that you’re not at all; and all the while there is an honesty to the songwriting that tugs at your sleeve. While her grasp of English is second nature, there’s some of those intriguing turns of phrase that only a heart that dreams in another language can weave: “The deep conceals things that are real/ look beyond the mirror/look beyond the mirror” , “I know we see things differently/as long as it’s not separately” and “You’re a fish in a bottle/a cock in a coop/the essence of trying…”

Sure, she has the usual credible influences from Vashti to Joni, from Neil Young to Danish folk hero Sebastian; and there’s hints of Sandy Denny and Linda Perhacs. But to list artists she sounds like would be to miss the point entirely. As anyone who has witnessed a live show can attest, Ida Wenøe is very definitely Ida Wenøe. As Carsten Holm at Danish Radio P6 Beat put it,
“she has an icy, almost Icelandic timbre. I haven’t heard this in any other Danish artist… an incredibly strong vocal…” God Is In The TV Zine went on to say her voice “boasts angelic notes which can often leak her endearing Danish roots…”

After ending her successful band Boho Dancer in 2014 Wenøe ́s debut album “Time of Ghosts” came out in The Nordic Countries in 2015 through Songcrafter Music. The music created lot of attention and the following year Ida played showcases and concerts in Denmark, Sweden, USA, England, Germany, Switzerland, The Faroe Islands and Poland. She was nominated for a Danish Music Award as “Folk Songwriter of the Year” and her music was used in DR (National TV) documentary “De Smukke Piger”.

A showcase concert at Tonder Festival lead to a collaboration with UK booking agency BlueHouse Music, who set up a very successful trio tour with Ida and her band The Silver Cords in the UK in 2016. I February 2017 Wenøe played Folk Alliance in Kansas City for the second time, and found new exciting collaborators for a future US release.

On April 7th 2017 “Time of Ghosts” will be released in the UK through Shellshock Distribution / The Orchard. Ida will be returning in April for a full UK tour.

Press Quotes – Ida Wenøe
“… a childlike fragility that makes the songs sound like whimsical folk for fairy tales with a sinister undertow. Her voice – weary but cute, with the power to cut through – is perfect; she sounds like the young narrator of her own magical-malevolent fantasies…”
The Guardian

“Bewitching acid folk with a deeply personal edge.”
Clash Magazine

“Both calming and uplifting, Ida seems to have perfected the knack of making even the loneliest listener feel understood, validated and less alone.”
Wonderland Magazine

Threads of loneliness run through her yearning vocal, lamenting over and over “I miss you now / Like I missed you then”. There’s something chilling about Wenøe’s work, suggesting the intriguing singer-songwriter knows things you don’t, and perhaps never will.
The Line Of Best Fit

“… the sort of voice that could punch through a cloud of custard and pierce thick air… she delicately rips through… with eyes full of hope…”
Songwriting Magazine

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard an artist perfectly capture the distinctive sound of late ’80s/early ’90s folk-pop—that kind of glassy glaze that cuts right to your core—but Danish singer/songwriter Ida Wenøe has done just that with her emotionally-charged and uplifting new album Time Of Ghosts. And as great as the full LP is, this listener keeps returning again and again to the Jane Siberry-like title track.”
Nordic Spotlight

“An international star in the making” – Gaffa

Mads Mathias is a vocalist/ songwriter and saxophonist, who has captured the hearts of music lovers with his charismatic performances, spirited personality and creative original songs.

Inspired and influenced by the great jazz vocalists of the past and present from Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra to Harry Connick Jr, and with a deep respect for the jazz tradition, Mathias is nevertheless an original talent with a unique and effortlessly charming vocal delivery and a skill for writing catchy and memorable, stylishly crafted tunes.

“A truly gifted artist” – Brian Blain, London Jazz News

His first release, ‘Free Falling’, is a hugely ambitious project with contributions from twenty-five musicians in a mix of big band, strings and small group arrangements. Ten of the songs are originals by Mathias, who also performs saxophone, trumpet and piano alongside his vocals, with arrangements by himself and Peter Jensen. The resulting critically-acclaimed album is a set of entrancing songs with the feel of timeless swing-era classics, skillfully crafted into a seamless coherent whole, with Mathias’s vocals ranging from playful and humorous to the depth and vulnerability demonstrated on the final ballad ‘Colorblind’. ‘Free Falling’ won him a Danish Music Award for ‘Best New Danish Jazz Artist of the Year’ as well as a nomination for ‘Danish Vocal Release of the year’.

Mathias has performed in venues across the world from the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen and Denmark’s Roskilde Festival to the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing and Santo Scenario, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2015/16 he completed two sold-out tours in the UK, including appearances at Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Cambridge and London Jazz Festivals. He is currently working on his second release and will be touring in Italy, Spain, the UK, Sweden & Denmark in 2017.

Copenhagen Sextet fuses Afro Jazz with Krautrock and Funk into a captivating and hypnotic mixture.

If an underground band from Denmark not only makes it on the “Beyond  Addis vol. 2” compilation of renowed german label Trikont but also onto Gilles Petersons BBC 6 radio playlist, they must have something special on offer – and indeed they do. Their organ and saxophone driven sound combines the irresistible groove of afro jazz with the hypnotic rhythms of krautrock, nervous funk and sometimes even doom rock, a mix that even gets notorious non-dancers at least nodding along in approval if not losing themselves in dance moves. The fact that this musical brew is purposely served in a consciously chosen raw garage sound gives the music of Debre Damo Dining Orchestra the extra magical touch.

The genesis of the unusual sound explains itself when you take a closer look at the different musical backgrounds of each band member. Simon Visti (b) and Asbjørn Nørgaard (dr, perc) were touring Europe several times with their now defunct rock band The Floor Is Made Of Lava. Peder Vind (keys) and Søren Skov (sax) played together in a funk heavy afro-beat orchestra and Rasmus Karkov (sax, fl) plus Kasper Saaby (dr, perc) are coming from the musical world of jazz, soul and funk. As usual in a true collective, the personality of each member can be found in the sonic end result – that still exceeds the sum of its parts by far.

Through the common love of old vinyl records and digging through record shops, the band eventually discovered ethio jazz legend Mulatu Astatke – a discovery that proved to be the initial spark to the collective enthusiasm for the six Copenhageners to dig deeper and further into the world of the Ethiopian jazz of the 70s. Soon it became obvious that this genre would be the ideal platform from where they all could venture into new musical expeditions – the constantly running groove leaves much room for instrumental improvisations as well as bringing in other musical forms like funk, kraut-, psychedelic- or doom-rock into the game.

Their selftiteled debut from 2016 – of course released on vinyl – found great response with DJs all over the world, besides Gilles Peterson also Skeme Richards of legendary hip hop formation Rock Steady Crew is an avid fan.

Over the nine songs of the album with unmistakable instinct Debre Damo Dining Orchestra combine the irresistible groove of afro jazz with different musical universes into their very unique form of expression.

Line up
• Søren Lyhne Skov – Tenor sax and barytone
• Rasmus Karkov – Alto sax and flute
• Peder Mertner Vind – Keys
• Kasper Saaby – Drums and percusion
• Asbjørn Nørgaard – Drums, percusion and synths
• Simon Visti Tang – Bass

Releases
2014: Yesega Wat/Minem Aydelem, 7” single (self-released)
2016: Debre Damo Dining Orchestra, 12” LP (self-released)
2016: Yesega Wat on ”Beyond Addis vol. 2 – Modern Ethiopian Dance Grooves Inspired by Swinging Addis” (Trikont)