This Moment

Personnel: Soren Juul (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Anders Mathiasen (guitar); Peter Stengaard (keyboards, drums); Jakob Hoyer (drums).
Audio Mixers: Soren Juul; Peter Stengaard.
Recording information: Amager Copenhagen (2015).
Illustrator: Krista Rosenkilde.
Photographer: Piper Ferguson.
The sophomore studio long-player from the Danish singer/songwriter, and his first outing not released under the Indians moniker, This Moment is the very definition of nostalgic and wistful; a lone iceberg floating aimlessly in an increasingly temperate sea. Often referred to as Denmark's version of Bon Iver, Soren Juul's lush and unwaveringly melodic brand of folk-inflected Euro-synth-pop is pure Scandinavian comfort food; background music for architects. His flexible yet measured vocal delivery, which falls somewhere between Sigur Rós' Jónsi and Semisonic/Trip Shakespeare's Dan Wilson, is evenly matched by the lovely textural keyboard work that serves as the LP's foundation. Billed as a "deeply personal account of Juul's life over a tumultuous three-year period," the ten-track set is hardly a downer, as whatever hardships Juul is working through lyrically are more often than not tempered by the myriad Lanois/Eno-esque sonic vistas and confectionary melodies that carry them. Those sugary sweet chemtrails deliver standout cuts like "Ambitions," "Don't Want to Fool You," and "Soulseeker" directly into the listener's pleasure center, where they serve as both balm and opiate, washing in like the kindest tide, and then returning back into the vastness, leaving the beach unchanged. ~ James Christopher Monger