Baby Woodrose - Something's Rotten in Denmark

Following the release on Bad Afro Records of the new Baby Woodrose album, "Chasing Rainbows", a great work of poppish, mystical and expansive Danish psychedelia, I contacted Lorenzo Woodrose for an interview. With Lorenzo we talked about the surprising new turn in Baby Woodrose's sound, and about musical and existential changes... Scandinavian psychedelia: still working miracles!

It seemed to me that the atmospheres of the tracks on "Chasing Rainbows", with their very similar rhythms, give rise to a kind of concept album…

Yes, it's all perhaps more conceptual than anything I've made before. Not just the rhythms, but the lyrics and the sound too revolve around the same themes. The message of the record is: dissolve the mud clouding your mind, and let's step out of the darkness to feel and see who we truly are!

The psychedelia of tracks like "Someone To Love", "Let Yourself Go", "No More Darkness" is soft, yet at the same time very sensitive… would you agree?

Yes, there's actually a sensitive side to the new songs that wasn't present before in Baby Woodrose's catalogue. I think we've gone through a lot of transformations over the past year. Personally and musically.

"Chasing Rainbows" is a much less aggressive album than "Money For Soul" and "Love Comes Down". A new path in Baby Woodrose's sound?

There's a certain aggression in the title track (aimed at the police and the government), inspired by the recent unrest in Copenhagen between March and April 2007, during the demolition of the legendary Ungdomshuset social centre, and in "No More Darkness" (aimed at a woman); either way, both tracks are more introspective and vulnerable than my previous work.

"Dark Twin" is a track with a truly mystical mood, with a grand, majestic church organ? What's it about?

It's an anthem for broken hearts and lost loves. I really like it a lot because it's so different from anything I've done before. I think it's an aspect of my personality: parting ways and saying goodbye is like a bereavement.

"In Your Life", with its Indian/Eastern-tinged sound, is a kind of new "Tomorrow Never Knows" (Beatles/"Revolver")!

Thank you so much for the comparison. It's a song about love and the desire for a better life. It's a desperate cry for help: letting go and following the current. Feeling more, observing more, living more intensely. The Eastern-tinged sound expresses this urgency for change well.

On "Chasing Rainbows" you made use of a lot of choirs and exotic instruments: sitar, tablas, glockenspiel... what should we expect from the next album?

A symphony orchestra maybe? I've always wanted to use violins at some point. Or maybe a gorgeous harp?

I think songs like "Someone To Love", "Let Yourself Go" and "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" are really radio-friendly with their fresh melodies...

I think so too, but if they became huge hits I'd be kicking myself! Anyway, I hope a lot of people will enjoy them.

Your guitar solo on "Let Yourself Go" is instead one of the heaviest moments on "Chasing Rainbows"...

Yes, originally for that guitar solo I asked The Hobbit from On Trial to play it with his special talent for wah-wah, but he was tired that day, so I tried to play it the way I thought he would have played it.

Your vocal mood on songs like the wonderful "Lilith" and "Madness Of Your Own Making" is also much more reflective and relaxed than in the past...

I agree. I'm not sure why, though. Maybe because they were recorded when I was alone and focused in the studio.

How much have the 13th Floor Elevators and Erickson influenced your songwriting on "Chasing Rainbows", Lorenzo? Think of tracks like "Renegade Soul", which is almost prayer-like, or "Madness Of Your Own Making"...

A huge amount. In everything I've done, possibly more than anything else in the world!

What is Baby Woodrose's "ongoing" existential message on "Chasing Rainbows"?

Try to figure out who you are. Be yourself. Let go of your worries and your fears. Don't sink into the mud. Live. Love.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google