ENGLISH PRESS TEXTURE ON WAVES OF HASTE:
by Tom Johnson
A lighthouse is, in itself, a contradiction, a building that sits in the depths of darkness, shining its only light out and away from itself for the sake of all others. Long seen as an inspiration for films, books, and song, most of the world’s lighthouses now sit as strange artefacts of a bygone age, still fulfilling their jobs but done so not by human endeavour but by modern technology.
The lighthouse found at Norway’s Lofoten Islands stands on a chunk of rock no bigger than a football field and is only accessible by boat. And it was here that Hjalte Ross pieced together his second record, Waves of Haste. Wrapped in blankets, under a dazzling display of the Northern Lights, Ross used the waves that surrounded him on that craggy piece of rock as a metaphor for the journeys we take through life, and they became the album’s theme: how the wavelengths of our life chapters come in different heights and lengths, how we find waves inside the waves.
This is no record of the sea however. Waves of Haste is also inspired by the travels Hjalte has taken over the past two years. It’s as much about the city and the sea, defined by the contrast between those spaces. From that tiny island he also relocated to the very heart of New York City, to hear the sounds, to feel the rush of it all, and both of those extremes bleed into these songs. “Travelling and staying in new places sets the creative parts in motion, it gives a perspective to things,” Hjalte says. “I wanted to go to New York to experience the greatest city on the planet. I wanted to embrace the city music I could hear in these new songs.”
The new album, which follows the Danish songwriter’s 2018 debut LP Embody, was once again recorded in Sebbersund near Ross's childhood home with John Wood. Best known for his work alongside John Martyn, Cat Stevens, Nico, Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, and more, Wood asked to work with Hjalte after he wrote to the legendary producer asking for advice ahead of his first record. And there’s a new sense of confidence here, an extra bite to the lyrics, an extra depth to that unhurried voice. “I have become a better songwriter, a better singer, and a better guitar player,” Hjalte emphasises. “I’ve kept the same intention as last time though, focusing on making a full-length album, focusing fully on the music.”
While there is still a strong vein of the Nordic folk which so tenderly characterised his debut ~ there is plenty of warmth and melancholy here ~ his time in New York reveals itself in a number of ways, the magical sway of the city coming to life through broader, less delicate arrangements which boast swells of brass alongside the guitar, bass, and drums.
A subtle, but undoubtedly bold expansion of his sound, Waves of Haste consists of nine spellbinding songs, and after meeting on that big apple trip, was mixed and mastered by Daniel Goodwin, a producer heralded for his work with the likes of Kevin Morby and Whitney, among many others. That pairing brings out the best in Hjalte’s songwriting, highlighting those contrasts between Norway and New York, sounding at once both modern and elegantly aged, tipping its had to the soulful sound of the 70s.
Lead track ‘Adrenaline’ is indicative of such a shift. Written in the heart of Chelsea, New York, it aches like an old soul song, beginning with a splash of piano and a shuffle of drums, the song is underpinned by a playful brass arrangement throughout which soon blossoms into an instrumental coda full of sweeping strings and measured guitar licks. Elsewhere ‘Thinking About You’ might be Hjlate’s most upbeat moment to-date, another buoyant burst of brass led soul music which radiates warmth, the title-track highlights his more withdrawn side, evocatively characterising the record as a whole, framing the recurring themes of the album inside a stripped-back moment of reflection.
The coverartwork made by Danish artist Kasper Eistrup is embodying the ‘Waves of Haste’ while really inviting the listener to be relaxed and fully attentional.
Both a journal of Hjalte’s creative travels over the past two years, and a glowing display of his growth as a singer, songwriter, and performer, Waves of Haste is an elegant and lovingly crafted album which wears its influences proudly on its sleeve: from the coastal magic of Norway, surrounded by water, to the foggy streets of New York City. It’s an album that speaks of personal memories, of the ever changing stages we go through in life via the separation from those that we love and care about; by choice, rejection, death and sickness, and of all the in between.
DANISH PRESS TEXTURE FOR ARRANGEMENTS:
DANSK PRESSETEKST TIL KONCERTER MM:
Tid og tendenser bider ikke på Hjalte Ross - det gør til gengæld løfter om kvalitet og uopslidelige sange fra det sted i hjertet, hvor de største perspektiver bor. Til koncerter foldes Hjaltes sange helt ud sammen med hans dygtige band, hvilket løfter sangene op i luften og lader dem med sitre med en intens gennemslagskraft, der rammer midt i hjertet.
Når Hjalte Ross og hans band har fremført Ross' sange live over de sidste par år, er de blevet taget godt imod af både publikum og anmeldere. Soundvenue gav således hans koncert på Spot Festival 2019 fem stjerner og kaldte det ”en noget nær perfekt koncert”.
Den unge sangskriver, sanger og guitarist Hjalte Ross udgav i efteråret 2018 sit anmelderroste debutalbum ”Embody” - en plade, der blev starten på en stor rejse for den unge danske kunster. Ross er nu klar med sit næste album med titlen ’Waves of Haste’, som udkommer d. 20. november.
Hjalte Ross fortæller, at han siden udgivelsen af debutalbummet 'Embody' i 2018 har knoklet med at lave 'den svære toer', en proces der har sendt ham til både New York, London og - isoleret fra alt - til en lille ø i det nordligste Norge. Hjalte Ross siger selv om processen, at han er blevet en bedre sangskriver, sanger og guitarist. Derudover fortæller han, at det blev tydeligere for ham, hvad han gerne vil med sin musik. Pladen er skabt i samarbejde med John Wood (Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, etc.), Daniel Goodwin (Whitney, Kevin Morby, etc) og artwork er lavet af Kasper Eistrup.
Words & music by Hjalte Ross
Produced by Hjalte Ross
Brass & string arrangements by Steve Turner & Hjalte Ross
Engineered by John Wood
Mixed & mastered by Daniel James Goodwin
Recorded at Dreamland Studio
Artwork by Kasper Eistrup
Layout & design by Nicolai Bejder
Hjalte Ross - vocal & acoustic guitar
Who Killed Bambi - strings
Side A.
1. Accidents
Astrid Matthesen – piano
Gustaf Ljunggren – tenor guitar
Mads Lang – bass
2. Adrenaline
Astrid Matthesen – piano
Gustaf Ljunggren –saxophones
Hjalte Ross – electric guitar
Ida Hovde - bass trombone
Mads Lang – bass
Oskar Krusell - organ
Simon Mariegaard – drums
3. Off My Mind
Astrid Matthesen – piano
Gustaf Ljunggren – tenor sax
Mads Lang – bass
Simon Mariegaard – drums
4. How Am I Supposed To Feel
Andreas Westmark – electric guitar
Astrid Matthesen – wurlitzer
Dan Hejslet – trumpet
Gustaf Ljunggren – rhodes
Hjalte Ross – piano
Ida Hovde - bass trombone
Mads Lang – bass
Simon Mariegaard – drums
.
Side B.
5. Thinking About You
Andreas Westmark – electric guitar
Astrid Matthesen – piano, backing vocal
Dan Hejslet – trumpet
Daniel Goodwin – percussion
Gustaf Ljunggren – saxophones
Ida Hovde - trombone
Mads Lang – bass
Simon Mariegaard – drums
6. Waves of Haste
Andreas Westmark – electric guitar
Astrid Matthesen – piano
Dan Hejslet - flugelhorn
Gustaf Ljunggren – pedal steel guitar
7. Holidays
Andreas Westmark – electric guitar
Astrid Matthesen – piano
Gustaf Ljunggren – saxophones & accordion
Mads Lang – bass
Oskar Krusell – percussion
Simon Mariegaard – drums
8. Passes By
Andreas Westmark – electric guitar
Astrid Matthesen – piano & wurlitzer
Dan Hejslet - flugelhorn
Ida Hovde – bass trombone
Mads Lang – bass
Oskar Krusell - organ
Simon Mariegaard – drums
9. The Truth
Gustaf Ljunggren – accordion
Hjalte Ross – piano
Michael Marino – harmonium
.
Accidents
Crying
But I am fine
Cause I am closer than I ever was
Thou it would seem, accidents have gone to me
And in a way, I am hoping it stays
Lying
Thou I am fine
Cause I am older than I ever ought
Thou it would seem, accidents have gone to me
And in a way, I am hoping it stays
Call me by my name, and tell me to give in
I have known that this would end, have you not? My little one
Adrenaline
Get away, I want to get away
From these old frames
And you
Us, lust and love
It is a lost course
A dumb thought
Hey! Please stay
I will make it go away
That is what you say
Adrenaline, it is pumping in
And the tempo
Is rising
Get away, because I have got hell to pay
For my old mistakes
And you
The only thing in my palms;
My fingertips
My qualms
Off My Mind
Babe when you call
And say, hey how do you do?
I would say that I
I am doing fine
Because I got you off my mind
But still
Baby when you say
That you miss all those days
I know somethings never change about you
And do you not feel the same?
And when you cry
I will not really mind
I would say that I
I am doing fine
Because I got you off my mind
But still
Baby when you say
You miss all those days
I know I still feel the same
About you
And I do not think it will change
How Am I Supposed To Feel
Confused and unsatisfied
You move to my tunes
Sleeping, and when I wake
I wake to your fuse
I have been waiting for the summer skies
I have been waiting in my own mind
What a time to be alive
With a woman all mine
But in the way you hold my hand
I wonder, will you listen?
How am I supposed to feel?
I am one step ahead of you
But still so revealed
How am I doing here?
It is like wining has defeated me
And there is no way I can yield
Thinking About You
Dazed for thirty days now
Circling like the moon
Could it be you are stalling?
I am languishing in this
I have been thinking a lot about you
I do not know what else to do here
Gone for thirty days now
The abrupt left a strain
Taking everything else with you
Abashing me, my love
Now I have been thinking a lot about it
I do not know what else you see in me? Ahahah
In me? Ahahah
Waves of Haste
You do not like the waves I am on
Waves of haste
You will stay at still waters
Waving at me
I am glad we talked
Thou it was not enough
And just like those waves
We are holding our course
Rushing to shore
Dying once more
Until its amber
I am being used to this
Losing my words
Thou the thoughts keep floating in
What could be worse?
I am glad we fought
I have not had enough
And unlike like those waves
We are hoping for more
Thou we do not know what for
An end is absurd
Eternity even more
So, when?
Holidays
Share a dream of equality
But that dream is not equally shared
Procrastinate a time, where you impair
Do it again I dare you, I dare
Holidays, and my heart is aching
Holidays your palms are failing
Chokehold me at night, tight and tight
Possessing the ability to make amends
Refrain your flawless, you evanescent from me
But to me you are a deity, you cannot do anything wrong
Holidays, my heart is aching
Holidays your palms are failing
Passes By
The stars, the mountains
The jealousy in souls
Outliving us, our daughters
Our fathers, our dues
But those clouds, the birds
The hunger for revenge
Like you and I
It just passes by
Let us live, let us die
Let us love, let us not
Time is a canvas
Let us hold the brush
The stars, the sun set
Those clouds and the birds
The sky too is a painting
Always changing
The Truth
What a voice, what a volume
What a threat, what a costume
See in my eyes, I get by
But I am tired of trying
So many rules, I cannot choose
Can our hearts not tell the truth?
This cultism is weakening me
Your antipathy is all that I see
Look in my eyes, I am high
I am tired of trying
So much you, I cannot choose
Can our hearts not tell the truth?
The truth