When Saints Go Machine At Juno Download

Review: Having recently released the excellent Fail Forever EP, which recapped the Danish four-piece's output so far, "Church & Law" is the primer for their new album out via K7 in a few weeks time. It's a slow and heavenly mix of tweaked, echoed synths with a pared-back beat and a saintly vocal from singer Nokolaj Manuel Vonsild. Recalling Talk Talk, The Knife and Arthur Russell, it's highly impressive stuff and should make the album, Konkylie, hot property when it drops.

Review: A band that have hitherto yet to be properly exposed to British ears, When Saints Go Machine have already had their full debut album released in their native Denmark.. Their sound is extremely hard to pin down - such is the range of material covered in these six tracks. Title tune "Fail Forever" introduces the distinctive tone of Nickolaj's vocals - somewhere between Morrissey and Erlend Oye - and comes over like Hot Chip's "Boy From School" played at about 4am with a beautiful electro-orchestral backing and some sparse but effective drums and bass. This is a great introduction to a band that are clearly bursting with ideas and influences.

Review: When Saints Go Machine have been winning plaudits this year for their sound, which sits somewhere between the cracked electronics of Fever Ray and pop sensibilities of Hot Chip. This single sees "Parix", one of the highlights of their recent album Konkylie, take pride of place; it's a track that comes across like Arthur Russell fronting a heavenly synth chorus, with lead singer Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild's vocals trilling almost in time with the beautifully modulated hardware, with a haunting calypso melody that recalls the brighter moments of The Knife's Silent Shout; something that should come as high praise indeed.