1 month ago
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“somewhere I belong” is the first cut from mikey's debut EP first notes, arriving in early spring. “It’s funny because this is the first time we’re saying these things aloud,” shares lead vocalist Maiken Kock Rask, when asked to describe the new single and the EP more broadly. “It feels that it has this atmosphere of walking [at] night, a bit bleak, but then also… quite hopeful. [All the tracks] are written as some sort of emotional release. It’s like a pendulum… of tension and release.”
Even a cursive listen to mikey’s previous output indicates this interest in tension and release, lyrically and sonically. On “somewhere I belong”, the production (by Henrik Koefod Petersen) both expands and supports Rask’s vocals, which float quietly over synths and shimmering percussion, sounding somewhere between 80s new-age and the later indie sensibilities of artists like Jamie xx. Petersen’s background in club music is audible here, too: the song arranges itself around a catchy hook, and when the bass does introduce itself it anchors the piece, pulsing through each bar without overwhelming it.
Excitingly, too, the single sounds different to previous music that the pair have produced. “We haven’t necessarily had a linear path [in music],” says Petersen. The subject of the track deals lyrically with a feeling of being restrained by expectations, and the draw of surrendering to an unknown path. But mikey’s music is, in itself, non-linear: they seem to take joy in the fact that the all-encompassing ‘alt-pop’ term can be so very broad. They have oscillated between club beats that underpin ruminations on going out to party (“make the night last”) and more ethereal, dreamy musings on falling in love and letting go (“under your spell”).
There is a clear feeling of exploration, which the duo agree is their guiding ethos in the studio. “I think it’s quite fluid,” Petersen says of their partnership. “That’s also how we started and how we enjoyed [working],” Rask replies. “A safe place for ideas.” This ethos allows them, too, to be more nimble in how they work: mikey’s music is all released via Caress Studios, Petersen’s own label that he set up in response to frustration at the restrictions of more traditional labels. “It’s just easier to move a little bit [more quickly], so you’re constantly in the creative process,” he says.
In fact, when asked what they see their upcoming release as being about, the first thing they do is pause. “It’s hard [to explain], but we can try. We’re so deep in the process right now,” says Petersen. That feeling of always being in motion, responding to the world as it is now, not how it was or how it will be, dictates mikey’s sound, and makes for an arresting, propulsive listen. “It’s trying to be in the moment,” says Rask. “I feel like we just have to fight a bit more to be in the present.”
English (US) · 