Lust For Youth

This week I am looking at Danish group Lust For Youth. Formed originally as a solo project for Hannes Norrvide (Left) in 2009, the group expanded to include Loke Rahbek (Middle) for 2014's International and most recently has included Malthe Fischer (Right).

At risk of igniting the in class argument from earlier in the week, Lust For Youth could be easily as dance music. However they have a sound that is certainly far more interesting and diverse than what might simply be considered music that is played in a night club at 3 am. While it may come across as up beat, its the layering of washy synths over stabbing bass lines that keep it from being happy smiley pop.

Aside from some guitar and percussion Lust For Youth rely solely on the use of synthesisers to create their music. The bass is often a warm, sub rich, arpeggiating synth that sounds like a mix of square and sine was wave oscillators. Always locked in with the drum beat which is what lends to the "dance music" feel. Normally a quite bright synth will usually take the lead melody for the track with another reverb soaked synth that's been pulled back in the mix creating atmosphere. It's not uncommon to hear a synth being triggered by a sequencer fluttering about in the midst of all of this especially in the lead up to a chorus or to add texture to an interlude. All of this combined and glued together with a heavy dose of reverb creates a sound that full of space and texture. It leaves perfect room for the vocal in the track because tonally a lot of the instruments are quite bright and wavering where as the vocal is low and dark. It's a really nice contrast. In terms of gear used, I have seen pictures of a Micro Korg XL being used live but outside of that I really can't find too much more on their gear. I know a laptop is used live so it's possible that given the amount of synth's used at any given time a lot of the tracks are controlled and via Ableton.

It's certainly music for and from the modern era. But you can hear a huge influence from the late 80's. Think Policy Of Truth off Violator by Depeche Mode. I don't know that it's dance music that you would normally find in a lot of clubs but it's definitely the sort of music you put on when you get home from a night of being at a club. Hoping that the soft bubbly synths bouncing around your bedroom while you lie there in the dark will help you go to sleep.