Under Byen

Featuring material culled almost entirely from the experimental pop orchestra’s 2006 breakthrough, Samme stof som stof, Under Byen have put together a dauntingly powerful live EP with Siamesisk. The magnitude of intensity these Denmark natives are capable of generating with their classically-influenced mini-epics is awe-inspiring, all the more so when you realise it’s being pulled off live. With sound so clear, full, layered and flawlessly performed, it’s easy to forget that a living, breathing ensemble were responsible. Under Byen’s music is as readily comparable to Björk and Portishead as ever but is marked by a cinematic romanticism tempered by neither Beth Gibbons’ jilted sneer nor Björk’s confrontational eccentricities. Dramatic and mysterious, yet somehow still warmly intimate, EP centrepiece and title track "Siamesisk” is a great example of the dynamic capabilities this humble ensemble invest in pushing musical thresholds while retaining welcoming elements of familiar song forms.