Jan 21, 2022

gimme more, ALSACE! | music

It’s ALSACE like Versace…

Picture yourself on a rooftop terrace party, looking over the big city and sipping on some wine from Alsace-Lorraine, France. That is ALSACE. Indeed, it was upon sipping wine from Alsace-Lorraine, that the name of the dynamic duo, ALSACE, came into fruition. Having grown up together, the pair grew up with an old-school sound - with disco and funk spoon-fed for breakfast.

Despite only having a few songs released, the Danish duo, Emil and Kristoffer, have captured my heart with their string of groovy, easy-going melodies. For the ALSACE-virgin ears out there, their music is meant to sound comforting - there is a real effortless to it. Their latest single, Gimme Love, for instance, is a beautiful snow-ball effect of synth feeding into another synth. I gave the floor to them; in three words, how would you describe your sound? Emil (co-lead singer) replied with, ‘Kimberley, it’s like trying to write a bio on a dating profile!’. They came up with ‘groovy’, ‘vintage’, and ‘playful’. Naturally, I asked, ‘why did [they] choose this sound?’. Ultimately, ‘like the music [they] heard when [they] were kids, [they] wanted to do the same… to give something back.’

Much like their sound, their aesthetic is equally as killer. Elements of the 70s, the cowboy boots and flamboyant outfits reverberate the styles of their icons: Hendrix, Bowie and Elton John. ‘Music should not only sound good, but it should look good.’ Put that on your tinder bio, folks...

However, beneath the rose tint and flamboyancy, I wanted to explore sadder/deeper themes. For instance, when asked about their favourite lyrics, Kris (co-lead singer) mentioned ‘…tempt the gods’ and ‘You must be gods design’ (lyrics from Physical). They added that ‘you can interpret things however you want... our work aims to be easily-digestible’.

Air France, for instance is ‘just one big, nice lyric’ (Kris). You can visualise everything, ‘lying by the pool’ and ‘acting cool’. These are not huge metaphors. Therefore, ‘we do want to go sadder, but it takes time to get there… just wait for the album, Kimberley!’ And just like that, I had to recline from being sat on the edge of my seat. 

When asked about their work with SASO and other future collaborations, their eyes glistened. ‘ALSACE is just a lot of fun. Even if there was no band, to simply create music and produce is electrifying’. Gimme Love, for instance, was crafted with producer, Joachim Ersgaard.

‘We met him when we played a show last summer and he was there with anther band. We networked, we met up, and made it in one day.’

In response, I brought up the pandemic and asked how badly were they affected?

‘We made an album,’ Kris confidently stated. Not many people can say that! In fact, this turbulent period birthed the band. The duo even hosted a live session at Vilhelm Lauritzens Terminal in Denmark.

On behalf of UNSETTLED, I thank you, Emil and Kris, for your time and words. Hope to see you in Denmark, boys! Kom Nu.