Golden Sea
[Bella Union,2010]
Hailing from Denmark, Our Broken Garden is the sound of sometime Efterklang keyboardist Anna Bronsted’s bewitching voice. Following the Lost Sailor debut EP, their debut album “When The Blackening Shows” arrived in 2008. Anna’s connection to water began here, with various nautical references in her lyrics, and a deeply atmospheric, drifting ebb and flow to the sound, with a serene, torchy Anna resembling a modern day siren at its heart.
Golden Sea is a substantial step forward for the band. There’s more drama and rhythm this time around – check ‘Garden Grow’ and ‘The Feral’ for clear proof – as if the golden sea was more restless and darker than its colour suggests. Anna puts the change down to wanting to recreate the romantic and grandiose feel of classical music. You can immediately hear that on the opening ‘The Departure’, with its undulating piano undertow and hymnal beauty. The violins that distinguish ‘The Feral’ could be Haydn, but the vocal style and melody is pure modern-day Scandinavia. Talking of which, Anna adds that she also saw [film director] Lars Von Triers’ Antichrist at the beginning of writing Golden Sea, “and I was very moved and influenced by it. It’s so graceful and overwhelmingly dreadful at the same time.”
According to Anna, Golden Sea is touched by both life and death. She chose the title, “because I wanted something rich and fruitful. When I was making the album, I had visions of lush green rainforests, lakes and rivers, and the quality of liquid gold water summed up that feeling.” But she confesses death features heavily in the lyrics. “But dying is an inevitable part of life, so it can be beautiful and positive too. The lyrics are about welcoming change, saying, I’m ready for it, come and get me, no matter what it takes.”
“OBG’s song’s unfurl slowly, lending the music a poignant, half dreamt quality… Bronstead’s flawlessly calibrated vocals are seductively sweet yet as chilly as an ice cream sundae – imagine Julee Cruise fronting Tindersticks – while the swooning melodies bewitch long after the CD has ended”
MOJO – 4 Stars ****
“Dreamily moonlighting from piano-tinkling in Efterklang, Anna Bronstead here does that turn-off-your-mind, float downstream thing… Lovely.”
The Independent – 4 Stars ****
“A death waltz of B-movie organs and prickly guitars that sounds like Beth Gibbons auditioning for the next James Bond theme… Wrap up warm and enjoy”
NME – 8/10
“Fronted by the near-heavenly voice of Anna Bronstead… enveloped in a warmth of gentle, atmospheric and icy orchestration… ominous yet beautiful ballads in which light and darkness co-exist gracefully”
The Fly – 4 Stars ****
“an almost indecently satisfying record… washes of organ and echoing electric guitar suggest vast spaces and emotions… On top of it all floats the lonely voice of Anna Bronstead… the effect is all-enveloping, otherworldly and deeply soothing”
WORD
“That she plays with Danish post-rockers Efterklang tells you a lot about Anna Bronstead… Add an affinity for the sonic cathedrals of Sigur Ros and Bronstead’s own haunting vocals and you complete the dreamy picture… Spellbinding”.
