Esben And The Witch - Poetry of a Dark Desert

The Brighton lads have managed to conjure a dense, immersive world across just two mesmerizing records, in which post-punk urgency, esotericism, romanticism and dark poetry fuse together with rare sensitivity.

We catch up with them for an email interview shortly after the release of their new album "Wash the Sins Not Only The Face", a record on which the band's style has grown even more refined, painting a complex lysergic-spiritual arc through vibrant words and hypnotic rhythms.

Hi guys, and thanks for your time! I'd like to start straight off by talking about your origins - what kind of background and artistic tastes you come from, and how you met...

It all started four years ago. Daniel and I (Thomas, ed.) began writing for drum machine and guitar, and things were going pretty well. We experimented, trying to find someone who could sing, but it wasn't easy; Rachel was an old acquaintance of ours, so I asked her if she'd like to join, and luckily she said yes. We don't have much of a musical background - a few failed piano exams, a couple of skeletons in Daniel's closet, but it's best not to go there.

We all have similar tastes in music, film and literature. Obviously that helps a lot with songwriting, and with getting through the long stretches of time - sometimes days on end - that we often spend together.

Why did you choose a Danish fairy tale to represent you and your music?

First of all because we liked how it sounded as a band name. The nickname came before Rachel joined; Daniel and I stumbled across the story, read it, and really liked the imagery and the subversive idea it held: a disturbing tale somehow disguised as a story for children.

It's a strange thing, choosing a name for a project. At first you don't pay it too much attention, because you don't pick a name thinking you might end up interesting enough people that they'll come and ask you to explain your choice… does that make sense? Back then Daniel and I were working out of his flat, down by the sea, and it was hard to imagine anything beyond those four walls.

"Violet Cries", your debut album, is a magical work that fused post-punk with gothic influences into a style you called "nightmare pop"… what was behind that LP and its darkness? What imagery informed it?

We've often been, and still are, associated with "dark" themes. That said, I don't think that should always be equated with sadness or the macabre. We see hope and beauty in these elements too, and that also shapes our music and our lyrics. The album was inspired by a great many things, among which landscapes and the natural world obviously played an essential part. "Violet Cries" was more like a soundtrack for a snow-covered tundra, while "Wash The Sins Not Only The Face" sits within a warm, surreal, desert landscape. Musically, post-punk has always been a genre that fascinated us, and I'm sure it's influenced the way we approach our instruments. As for gothic, I'm not so sure - I couldn't really tell you much about gothic music, to be honest.

I think that, more than musical roots, your sound has been strongly influenced by literature, painting and cinema. What do you think? Which novels, films and artists have left their mark on you?

Definitely! Over the years, far too many to list. Personally, J.G. Ballard has been a constant inspiration, as have David Lynch's films. I recently watched "Twin Peaks" for the first time, believe it or not, and I don't know why I hadn't before. It's truly magnificent. I love how Lynch places everyday life and apparent banality right alongside the supernatural. When he wants it to be, it's terrifying purely through juxtaposition. It works perfectly. We've worked in a similar way with our music, trying to bring in our own personalities to give the songs more depth. We hope that comes through on the new album - songs like "Smashed To Pieces In The Still Of The Night" hold together destruction, hope, beauty and reflection all at once. It sounds a bit "grandiose" put that way, but that's the idea nonetheless.

Is the war surrounding the words of "Marching Song" set in the present or the past? Is it a vision of our world?

I've always pictured it as a vision of another time, a different world. I imagine the other two might say something slightly different, but we don't always discuss these things. Obviously we share a general consensus about what the songs mean, but the specific details are something best left to our imagination. That way it ends up being more of a natural fusion of our three minds. When I think of "Marching Song" I think of strength set against adversity, of resilience. Two traits we've always wanted to celebrate in our music.

In "Warpath", on the other hand, you speak of extinction, of a clandestine paradise… Why did you want to express this sense of urgency, of imminent destruction?

I asked Rachel and she burst out laughing - she told me she was really quite beside herself when she wrote those words. I think she was saying it in a somewhat veiled way, but I believe you can still get a sense of the situation.

Imminent destruction is that universal feeling where everything is in ruins and you just want to wipe it all away… Speaking as someone who's spent a lot of time around Rachel, I can tell you she's not necessarily someone who goes through a period of reflection when she's feeling down or hurt. "Warpath" shows just how personal the words, the lyrics, are for her.

There's a strong ritualistic atmosphere in your music, something liturgical that often appears on both your LPs - is there a relationship with religion and spirituality?

We're interested in how ideas and stories come to life within religions, within different faiths. And while it's clear we're a long way from starting a cult or anything like that, there is a small resemblance. We try to create a deep world surrounding the songs. We do this in various ways - illustrations, videos, titles, and the broader imagery that informs and accompanies the music. We all feel it's important to give rise to something people can lose themselves in and draw inspiration from [...].

Even more than on your debut, the esoteric component is present on "Wash The Sins Not Only The Face" - what changed in you and in your artistic vision in the meantime?

It really was our intention to make “Wash The Sins…” something more inclusive. We felt that in the past we'd focused too much on the esoteric, and we wanted to try writing songs with a more universal meaning, less difficult ones. Whether or not that happened depends on each listener's perspective. “Violet Cries” was meant to be a dense, difficult listen, but this time we wanted to pursue a sense of warmth and space that wasn't there before. It might not seem immediately obvious, since the songs vary much more than on the debut — it'll take some time.

About the new album… it's made up of Ophelia-like songs like “When The Head Splits” or “Shimmering”, while on the other hand there are pieces more oriented towards electro-dark, alternative-rock (“Putting Down The Prey”, “The Fall of Glorieta Mountains”), or a wonderful ethereal meeting point of these influences (“Deathwaltz”)… so many faces, so many souls…

That's exactly what I was trying to explain a moment ago! The compositions on the new record are much more varied than the previous ones. It was inspired by long journeys through the desert, surreal landscapes and a sense of duality. All the songs are in some way tied to one or all of these things. The album opens with “Iceland Spar”, which seeks the battle cry at the start of an expedition, the rising morning sun over foreign ground. The album is a journey through this land, strange visions and encounters unfolding over the course of a day, and it ends with “Smashed To Pieces…”, which paints the moment when the lights dim and you meet your doppelganger (your double).

Rachel's vocal style… there's something close to the romanticism of Emily Bronte or Emily Dickinson, a very poetic atmosphere within it…

Rachel read a lot of poetry during the writing period for the new record. She was very interested in Sylvia Plath and TS Eliot rather than Emily Bronte. The poetic element in the lyrics is something all three of us consider important. As for style, I'd say we're closer to P J Harvey and Michael Stipe as points of inspiration. I remember “Daysleeper” playing more than once during the two weeks we spent recording vocals.

Old, banal, final question. What are your future plans?

The goal is to start the tour next month. We're all excited about getting back on the road, it really has a good effect on your mental state. It's been a genuinely strange period waiting for the record's release date — it had obviously been finished for a while already, and it took very little for us to start losing our minds. Right now we're trying to get some reworkings of our songs done, like Dave Sitek's version of “Deathwaltz”. Teeth Of The Sea are also preparing one, and we're thrilled about it; we're big admirers of theirs, and we're planning some kind of live collaboration that should turn out really intriguing.

As for the rest, we hope to meet up somewhere this year so you can experience the live incarnation of “Wash The Sins Not Only The Face”.

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