Trentemøller is back with a studio album more liberating than ever. “The only thing I knew from the beginning was that this didn’t absolutely have to be an album I should be able to play live, with a band. Obverse was always going to be about exploring the possibilities in my studio, and it was completely liberating.” With no pressure on him, the Danish master of contrast strays even further away from club music but remains the architect of sound landscapes. This album is proof of his talent as an sonic impressionist, with the 8 and a half-minute-long opener Cold Comfort blending soaring shoegaze-esque guitars with Rachel Goswell’s ethereal voice, an addition he coordinated because the track reminded him of Slowdive.
From dream pop to morphine-drowsy synths, Trentemøller delivers several genius moments on the album, like Blue September, a track of astounding darkness carried by heavenly vocals by Lisbet Fritze (from Copenhagen trio Giana Factory) which sound like they were recorded in a cathedral (or sent straight from heaven, you decide), and a synth which switches from either side of the stereo while the kick gets stronger. It’s the piece de resistance on an astonishingly hypnotic album, much like Trnt, an amazing track worth listening to with headphones in the dark: you go in fumbling around and are forcefully pulled out the other side. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz