– THE MILITARY COUP –

Call me weird but the name Girls in Airports has always sounded to me like either a crap Drew Barrymore rom-com or a mid 90s “jazz mag” (not in the musical sense of the word) where the images were only a light shade of blue and the articles were actually read.

Fortunately, the Danish band Girls in Airports sound neither like Ms. Barrymore’s snarly voice nor a gnarly Escort snapper sneering ‘a little wider, please, darlin’”.

However, there is plenty of jazz (of the right kind, this time) in there. And plenty of electronica. And dollops of darkness in there for good measure.

And that makes for a very intriguing listen.

Outside Looking In is the band’s third single in quick succession; the trio of tracks marking the first new studio music from the band since 2015’s Fables.

And, like Lin and Rold Skov before it, the song sucks you in with its sumptuous Scandinavian surliness; the dense, brooding keyboards of Mathias Holm locked in an uneasy – yet somehow entirely functional – marriage with the high-pitched, staccato saxophone and clarinet stabs of Martin Stender and Lars Greve (photographed).

All the while, Victor Dybbroe (percussion) and Mads Forsby (drums) march the song towards the battlefield with a military sticking pattern played primarily on the snare.

The result is a sound that is equal parts Mogwai and Miles Davis, cooking up a stew dank enough to brew bitches or make skeletons of kids.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND: KEEP YOUR HEAD UP
FAZER: KHANDA
ANNA MEREDITH: PARAMOUR
JACOB COLLIER: MAKE ME CRY

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –