[Click play above to stream Uffe Lorenzen’s Magisk Realisme in full. Album is out tomorrow on Bad Afro Records.]

An unhurried feel persists throughout the third Uffe Lorenzen solo album, Magisk Realisme. The title translates in straightforward fashion to magical realism, referencing the literary style that brings magical or otherworldly elements to an otherwise “normal,” modern context. It’s fair enough ground for Lorenzen to work in, considering his pedigree dating back 30 years to the beginnings of Danish psychedelic rockers On Trial, for whom he handled drums. That band went on for more than a decade, but the even greater impact on underground psych revivalism for Lorenzen would come with the advent of his own band, Baby Woodrose, in the early aughts. Adopting the nom de plume Lorenzo Woodrose, Lorenzen became an icon — seriously: he was on Danish Sesame Street and everything — of garage and traditionalist psych, performing with an inimitable energy and a cosmos-bound feel that came accompanied by an oft-voiced commitment to a psychotropic lifestyle.

The advent of a solo career, doing work under his own name and in the Danish language, began with the 2017 solo debut, Galmandsværk (review here) and continued in 2019 with Triprapport (review here), and with Magisk Realisme — released like its predecessors through Bad Afro Records — Lorenzen seems to work to reconcile the various sides of his sonic persona while presenting a cool-toned and engaging float. What began as an exploration of acid folk has transcended stylistically and seemed to become all the more personal even as it covers more aesthetic ground, which is to say, with Lorenzen looking at more of his rocking side — see also: Baby Woodrose, Dragontears, Spids Nøgenhat and so on — Magisk Realisme gives a proportionately more complete picture of who he is artistically. It’s not that this aspect of his work was ignored on Galmandsværk or Triprapport since the underlying structure of his songs is largely unshakable — not to say Lorenzen has never jammed out, but some of his most effective work is in the pre-punk space-garage vein, verses and choruses at the forefront.

That’s true of Magisk Realisme as well, which seems to present a maturation of Lorenzen as a solo performer. He plays nearly all the instruments on the record, with Henrik Lysgaard Madsen adding a notable pedal steel guitar to “Caminoen” while Trine Trash sings backup and plays cello and Anders Juhl Nielsen brings trumpet — yes, trumpet — to “Efterår.” That’s a standout moment, to be sure, but the “magical realism” involved in the album’s title more likely refers to the blend of earthbound and psychedelic elements that takes place across its somewhat unassuming 10-song/37-minute span; a classic-style LP format, divided evenly into two five-track sides. That begins with “Lad Det Gå,” the lead cut that opens with a telltale strummed riff and “Yeah!” from Lorenzen that itself is a dogwhistle to let his fanbase know the man himself has arrived.

Organ, electric guitar, and of course Lorenzen‘s voice, drums, bass, etc., and the backing vocals of Trine Trash in the hook, all set a familiar stage drawing from ’60s psych, but in truth there’s nothing retro about it — the sound is modern, crisp, and the mix executed with a depth and a clarity that allows for the solo in the second half to top the rhythm track fluidly before cutting back to a last verse. A highlight to start off, then, and “I Mit Blod” hits a little harder, even, ahead of the shift to acoustic for “Efterår” and the mellow roll and wistful pedal steel in “Caminoen.” These turns of mood and arrangement are handled with remarkable smoothness, and while one should expect no less from a composer of such experience as Lorenzen, it’s nonetheless significant that even in this relatively new context of solo performance, he’s so able to lead the audience wherever he wants to go. On the title-track, that’s to the very heart of guy-and-guitar vibing, an acoustic strum taking a progression that might in another situation be a driving rock riff and turning it into a sentimental meditation. I won’t pretend to speak Danish, but the vocal performance there from Lorenzen, stark with just his own guitar accompanying, is a highlight either way.

More of the same on side B? Well, it starts with another “Yeah!” at the beginning of the also-organ-laced “Livet Skriger,” and Trash returns on backing vocals, so there’s definitely some mirroring going on with the first half of the record, but the pacing has more shove in “Livet Skriger” than did “Lad Det Gå,” and the feeling is of shaking loose, breaking free perhaps, from any constraints. Liberation rock, and perhaps as close as Magisk Realisme comes to Baby Woodrose. An immediate dreamy turn is undertaken with “Tornerose,” wah guitar peppered along with layers of vocals and a subdued spirit that still carries some motion with the drums behind it, deep-mixed though they are, and “Nede Af Vejen” picks up on that and adds tambourine for further percussive revival, which further smooths the shift into “Stjernestøv.” The penultimate inclusion on Magisk Realisme reinforces the album’s core blend of songwriting and more full-band-style performance from Woodrose, with organ, tambourine, drums, electric guitar, and so on, as he moves through a subtly quick 2:22 to ground the record one last time ahead of “Dommedags Eftermiddag,” for which the drums depart and a fuller drift and trippy melodic wash takes hold.

Lorenzen‘s echoing voice is well established as being suited to such fare, and amid the waves and wahs of electric and acoustic guitar and whatever keys are happening in there, he provides a human presence that is inimitable enough to be entirely his own. The same is true of the record as a whole. Uffe Lorenzen, as a musical project by the person of the same name, is becoming more complex, but in so doing, it also seems to be getting closer to encompassing all the work of that person in the first place. Does it represent a shifting interest in modes of expression back toward rock from the folkier movements of his first two solo albums? Certainly possible, but that’s not something that can really be answered until the next one comes along. Most crucially, Lorenzen shows no signs of stopping or letting up on his creative evolution, and whatever it is he’s searching for in this ethereal landscape, he seems bound only to keep looking. So much the better.

Uffe Lorenzen, “Caminoen” official video

Uffe Lorenzen on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Bandcamp

Baby Woodrose website

Bad Afro Records on Bandcamp

Bad Afro Records on Thee Facebooks

Bad Afro Records website

Uffe Lorenzen, otherwise known as Lorenzo Woodrose of long-running Kobenhavn psych-rock leaders Baby Woodrose, is set to release his third solo album, Magisk Realisme, on Sept. 11 through Bad Afro Records. I’m not going to even pretend to know the date, but I know that’s pretty soon. The follow-up to last year’s Triprapport (review here) and 2017’s Galmandsværk (review here) sees Lorenzen doing more work that bridges the gap between some of the acid-folk fare he’s delved in over the last couple years (and records) and Baby Woodrose‘s more garage-rocking side. Perhaps that’s a result of the man himself — who plays just about everything on the LP but for the odd bit of pedal steel, trumpet, cello and/or backing vocals — becoming more comfortable in this context, feeling freer to explore his own past as well as current leanings. Or maybe quarantine restlessness manifests itself in a variety of ways. You’d have to ask him. I’d love to.

Speaking of quarantine, I’m going to guess that longtime associate Palle Demant‘s video for “Caminoen” was filmed prior to it? There are an awful lot of short-sleeves around for it being early in the year in Scandinavia, so maybe Denmark is out of social distancing. I see hugs and not-masks and high fives and people sitting together and the song is sweet and melodic with the pedal steel playing off Lorenzen‘s verses and on my first watch, I found myself thinking, “Holy shit it would be amazing to get a walking tour of Copenhagen from Uffe Lorenzen and write about it afterwards,” since that’s basically what the clip is — I think of these writing projects all the time and they almost never come to fruition because time and also money. But I had to stop myself because as Lorenzen goes around basically from bar to bar, saying hi to people — pretty sure Demant makes a cameo in a Fuzz Cake Film t-shirt — I remembered that I don’t even know if this kind of thing would happen now, let alone if I, as an American, would be able to enter Denmark to experience it. And that was a pretty sad realization. Gave that pedal steel a weepy edge, to be honest.

But that’s one read, and of course not really what the song is probably looking to evoke. In any case, it’s an appreciated early taste of Magisk Realisme, and should we one day enter a reality in which a walking tour of Copenhagen with Lorenzen as the guide might be possible, I’ll be right there at the head of the line.

Enjoy:

Uffe Lorenzen, “Caminoen” official video

Today I’m releasing the second single from Magical Realism and here’s Palle Demant’s video for the track CAMINOEN, probably the funniest video I’ve ever made – for obvious reasons. It’s myself on all the instruments, with beautiful pedal steel help from Henrik Lysgaard Madsen.

The album will be released on September 11th and can be pre-ordered here: https://badafrorecords.bandcamp.com/album/magisk-realisme

The song is also out on all kinds of digital things: https://badafro.lnk.to/Caminoen

And can be downloaded here: https://badafrorecords.bandcamp.com/track/caminoen-2

Uffe Lorenzen on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Bandcamp

Baby Woodrose website

Bad Afro Records on Bandcamp

Bad Afro Records on Thee Facebooks

Bad Afro Records website

Take a seat in Dr. Lorenzo‘s office for a bit of psychedelic self-care. Danish garage-psych mavens Baby Woodrose released their self-titled long-player in 2009 through Bad Afro Records. Still fronted by founding vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Uffe “Lorenzo Woodrose” Lorenzen after shifts in their lineup, the band operated in the studio as Lorenzen and guitarist/bassist/backing vocalist Adam Olsson, and after returning to Bad Afro for 2007’s Chasing Rainbows following the release of 2006’s Love Comes Down on Playground Music Scandinavia in a flirtation with broader commercial reach, the inward-looking declaration of Baby Woodrose as a self-titled long-player seemed to suit the band just fine. I really don’t have a bad word to say about the band’s catalog on the whole, no matter who’s involved, but as Lorenzen‘s (multicolor, swirling) vision became the basis for their sound and his songwriting matured to the sharp, no nonsense point one finds it here, it was obvious what were the essential elements at play in construction.

And songwriting is where it’s at for Baby Woodrose. Produced by Lorenzen and Johan Lei Gellett, the album comprises 12 tracks across 37 minutes. The longest individual cut is the finale, “Secret of the Twisted Flower” at 5:32, but nothing else touches four minutes, and the sharp, Stooges-style proto-punk of “Take It” and “No Mas” meshes brilliantly with the more kaleidoscopic mindsets of “Laughing Stock,” buzzing opener “Fortune Teller” — a telltale “yeah alright!” to get things rolling early — and the sweeter strums of the duly ’60s-tinged “Open up Your Heart.” The subtle variations in arrangement — a tambourine here, backing vocals there, a change in effects — and Baby Woodrose is/are able to affect turns from psychedelia through raw heavy rock, keeping a classic air about them all the while even as the sound fleshes out in a fashion decidedly modern. Neither are they retro, at least in terms of the ‘vintage heavy’ movement that was beginning to take hold elsewhere in Scandinavia or in Germany at the time. Formed in 2001 and with four studio LPs and a covers collection under their belt by the time they got to 2009, Baby Woodrose always operated separate from the rest of all that, and they still do. The self-titled is precisely what it says it is — the band staking their claim on who they are in terms of aesthetic and approach, and refusing to be anything but what Lorenzen wants them to be.

Tone has never been an issue for Baby Woodrose, from ’01’s landmark Blows Your Mind! onward, and in songs like “Hollow Grove” and the presumed side A capper “Countdown to Breakdown,” each guitar strum and each line of bass seem to hold purpose in serving the song as a whole, as much thoughtful as they are obvious, like some never-seen tree discovered in middle of a public park of pop songcraft. The hooks of “Emily” and “Laughing Stock” arrive back to back ahead of “Countdown to Breakdown” and though they’re united by the basic underlying structure, the two songs are completely different in mood, the former somewhat wistful in a poised regret and the latter defiant in lyric and fuzz alike, the position of Lorenzen‘s vocals and the effects thereupon enhancing the notion of a transition from one atmosphere to another. The pinging melodies of “Countdown to Breakdown” likewise represent another place-to-place movement, but the theme of the song being mental collapse, the psychedelia is almost a disguise the lyrics wear to get away from themselves. Not gonna say I don’t get it.

Perhaps, then, “Changes Everywhere” is all the more appropriately placed at the start of side B, but in any case, it emphasizes another aspect of Lorenzen‘s work that has held true throughout his career, in Baby Woodrose as well as the prior On Trial, and subsequent side-projects like Dragontears and Spids Nøgenhat as well as his recent solo work, and that is his ability to make a short song a journey. As barebones as some of these tracks can seem, they’re meticulous, purposeful and presented with a care that is rare in or out of psychedelic heavy rock. To wit, the build of the last three tracks on Baby Woodrose, with the acoustic-led pair of “Mikita” and “Scorpio” following the brash “No Mas” and leading into the spacious, drifting and experimental-feeling “Secret of the Twisted Flower” to close, hypnotic but still aware of the drumming taking place in the recesses of the mix. Whether it’s there or earlier in “Hollow Grove,” “Fortune Teller” or “Emily” there’s a sense of storytelling that comes through without a direct narrative across the album as a whole, and each piece becomes habitable even as the procession from one to the next is quick and sometimes (again, purposefully) blindsiding.

The post-Playground Music era of Baby Woodrose had begun two years earlier, true, but I tend to think of the self-titled as a standout moment — not the least for being self-titled — that began a more mature stage for Lorenzen‘s take. 2011’s Mindblowing Seeds and Disconnected Flowers (review here) looked back on demos and lost tracks from the period of the debut, but 2012’s Third Eye Surgery (review here) pushed engagingly forward on the ideas presented across Baby Woodrose, and though it would be four years before the band would turn around with 2016’s Freedom (review here), that record and the pair of solo offerings Lorenzen has since issued under his own name and in his own language, 2017’s Galmandsværk (review here) and 2019’s Triprapport (review here), continued to progress in terms of scope and confidence, the solo albums taken on an ethereal singer-songwriter feel that owes as much to rock as acid folk and is entirely Lorenzen‘s own.

Freedom was the last Baby Woodrose album, and four years matches the longest stretch the band has had between LPs. My understanding is Lorenzen has a third solo offering in the works for later this year — though of course it may meet with some delay as so much has — but whether and whenever another record shows up, there’s little doubt it will further the band’s progression of being simultaneously far out and dug in as only Baby Woodrose can be.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

I wrote the above yesterday, and yesterday, I needed that bit of psychedelic self-care. The early part of the day sucked. It was awful. I was pissed off, the morning was a pain in the ass, everything, terrible. I took half a xanax and watched that Enslaved stream and that helped. The kid/puppy combo though has been pretty brutal this week.

Just got off the phone with a hospital coordinator in Allentown, PA, trying to put my father in a rehab center after his July 3 fall. He apparently still needs help from two people to stand up and is confused and uncooperative which, having grown up as his son, sounds about right to me.

They want a legal guardian for him. That’s gonna end up being me, I know it. Not a job I want, but there it is.

He has no assets to speak of or that I know of — a car. Doesn’t own a home, signed away his half of any of my mother’s assets 25 years ago, and then did so again 15 years ago, so that’s pretty much settled despite the fact that they’ve never divorced. That I would be 38 years old dealing with this shit? Not something I saw coming. Probably should have.

So it’s been a week.

I await a call from a financial coordinator at a rehab facility. Phone tag. I look forward to having a conversation, feeling totally overwhelmed and sad, and then going back to the rest of my life.

That Enslaved stream though, right?

No Gimme show again this week. I think next week? They’ve been doing a bunch of artist sit-ins, and I was the one who pulled the plug on the last episode — just didn’t have it in me to do one more thing — so yeah. I’ll make a playlist over the weekend and try to get some voice tracks down. You don’t care. It’s fine. I’m not out here trying to pretend I’m entitled to anyone’s time. I just need to say these things.

Moving on.

In especially cruel moments, life shows you the aspirations and accomplishments of those braver than you. The things people do. I’m trying to teach the puppy to fetch a tennis ball. Things are pretty mundane these days. I try to write as much as I can. Nothing new there.

Great and safe weekend. Think I’ll go for a run.

FRM.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

You’re not going to hear a more appropriate cover this year than Uffe Lorenzen taking on Roky Erickson, I’m sorry. It is a fitting homage from the Baby Woodrose frontman to the 13th Floor Elevators frontman to record “If You Have Ghosts” and issue it as a name-your-price single, and as one would have to expect given the depth of influence Erickson has had on the Copenhagen-based Lorenzen‘s work in various outfits over the last two decades-plus, the song is duly nailed and the spirit of homage in which it’s performed can be heard in the raw simplicity of the recording, done live on a musty guitar with one-take vocals on an 8-track recorder. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Since the start of last month, Lorenzen has been embroiled in a series of live shows that continue this week and into November as he supports his 2019 sophomore solo outing, Triprapport (review here), on Bad Afro Records. You’ll find the remaining dates below, as well as background on this cover, and of course the stream/links, courtesy of the PR wire:

Uffe Lorenzen – If You Have Ghosts

13th Floor Elevators and Roky Erickson have always been a big inspiration for Uffe Lorenzen and all the bands he has been involved in. Be it Baby Woodrose, Spids Nøgenhat, Dragontears or On Trial. So when Roky died back in May 2019 Uffe Lorenzen decided to pay homage to the legendary psych rocker and record one of his songs.

Uffe Lorenzen was looking for a simple, stripped down and naked sound and found a perfect match in an old Brenell 8-track tape machine from the 70s to record If You Have Ghosts on. To obtain a real dry sound he played on an old guitar from the 70s that had been found in a barn. The guitar strings had not been changed for 10 years which gave everything a special feel.

The recording was done with no editing and the vocal part was recorded in one take. Thanks to tape operator and producer Palle Demant the result is quite breathtaking and unique. Hopefully Roky Erickson will be listening upstairs with a smile on his face.

MP3:
http://badafro.dk/uffe-lorenzen-if-you-have-ghosts-mp3
Spotify, Apple etc.
https://BadAfro.lnk.to/UffeLorenzen-Ghosts

Uffe Lorenzen live:
17.10 Radar Aarhus
20.10 Hotel Cecil København (sold out)
25.10 KulturCosmos Viby Sjaelland
26.10 Harder Svendborg
27.10 Hotel Cecil København
31.10 Boxer Trondheim
01.11 Blå Rock Tromsø

Uffe’s latest album triprapport can still be streaming, downloaded and purchased from these links:

Digital: https://badafro.lnk.to/UffeLorenzen-Album
Bandcamp: https://badafrorecords.bandcamp.com/album/triprapport

https://www.facebook.com/lorenzowoodrose
https://www.instagram.com/themanwhoatetheplant
https://www.facebook.com/BabyWoodrose/
https://www.facebook.com/badafrorecords/
https://badafrorecords.bandcamp.com/
http://badafro.dk/

Uffe Lorenzen, “If You Have Ghosts”

Uffe Lorenzen, Triprapport (2019)

I’m wrong about all kinds of shit, pretty much all the time, but I’m right about how good Uffe Lorenzen‘s second solo record, Triprapport (review here), is. Issued by Bad Afro Records, which has also long stood behind releases for Lorenzen‘s main outfit, Baby Woodrose, as well as Dragontears, Spids Nøgenhat, etc., it takes psychedelic folk and garage rock and melts them both down to find a signature character not only derived from but adding to them. There are few people I’m willing to believe were as genuinely upset as Lorenzen might’ve been at the recent passing of Roky Erickson, let me put it that way.

Most of the shows are in Denmark, but pardon me if I take the announcement of this barrage of shows — mostly in three-date increments, but some not — as an excuse to post the Bandcamp stream of the album again and encourage you to dig into it. If you’re interested — and you should be, damnit — the documentary film Born to Lose (review coming soon) about Lorenzen is also out on DVD/streaming now.

Here are the dates:

In September my Tålt Ophold Tour 2019. It will be once again a walk around Denmark (and a few go to Norway) only armed with 12-string guitar, my travel card, my own Danish songs and a handful of good stories from A slightly unusual living life. You can see the whole turplanen on this flyer that you would love to share and tag your friends in the comments so I can sell some tickets.

Uffe Lorenzen – Tålt Ophold Tour 2019
05.09 Bygingen Vejle
06.09 Dexter Odense
07.09 Paletten Viborg
12.09 Baltoppen Ballerup
13.09 Støberiallen Hillerod
14.09 Gimle Roskilde
19.09 Stars Vordingborg
20.09 Sonderborghus Sonderborg
21.09 Templet Lyngby
26.09 Tøjhuset Fredericia
27.09 Glumsø Biograf Og Kulturhus Glumsø
28.09 Kulisselageret Horsens
03.10 Kunsthal6100 Haderslev
04.10 Studenterhuset Aalborg
05.10 Hanstholm Madbar Thy
10.10 John Dee Oslo
11.10 Statsraaden Bergen
12.10 Folken Akvariet Stavanger
17.10 Radar Aarhus
20.10 Hotel Cecil København (sold out)
25.10 KulturCosmos Viby Sjaelland
26.10 Harder Svendborg
27.10 Hotel Cecil København
31.10 Boxer Trondheim
01.11 Blå Rock Tromsø

My latest album triprapport can still be streaming, downloaded and purchased from these links:

Digital: https://badafro.lnk.to/UffeLorenzen-Album
Bandcamp: https://badafrorecords.bandcamp.com/album/triprapport

https://www.facebook.com/lorenzowoodrose
https://www.instagram.com/themanwhoatetheplant
https://www.facebook.com/BabyWoodrose/
https://www.facebook.com/badafrorecords/
https://badafrorecords.bandcamp.com/
http://badafro.dk/

Uffe Lorenzen, Triprapport (2019)

[Click play above to stream the premiere of Uffe Lorenzen’s ‘Psykonauten’ from the album Triprapport, out May 10 on Bad Afro Records.]

Is it really any surprise that Uffe Lorenzen would produce headphone-ready acid folk of the highest caliber? It probably shouldn’t be. The Baby Woodrose frontman, also known as Lorenzo Woodrose, has been proffering psychedelic garage and heavy rock with that outfit for the last 18 years, and his 2017 solo debut, Galmandsværk (review here), was a likewise-directed lysergic journey. Triprapport, recorded and mixed analog, is a more than worthy follow-up to that also-released-by-Bad–Afro first offering, with its eight songs written in a short period of time during a mushroom binge off in a cabin someplace in Lorenzen‘s native Denmark. The album’s title, Triprapport, might indeed be taken as a report about that trip, and of course, “trip” is the operative word. Across 36 occasionally-sitar-laced minutes Lorenzen builds layers of acoustic and electric guitar, percussion, and echoing vocals to a sensibility that is at once reminiscent of the debut and steadier in its approach.

The mellotron dream of “Angakkoq” and the subtly percussive, semi-spoken “Alting Er Eet” are both likewise assured, and even on the extra spacious “Aldrig Mere Ned,” in which Lorenzen‘s strumming seems to ring out like the Milky Way cutting the night sky in half amid a mounting wall of electrified fuzz, there’s a willfulness to the proceedings that speaks to the consciousness behind all that mind expansion. The narrative of the album’s construction — guy goes into the woods, eats mushrooms, writes songs — does precious little to convey the level of craft or detail that Lorenzen brings to his work, but perhaps it’s best left to the songs to explain themselves, as with the closing Hans Vinding (Furekåben) cover “Hallo Hallo Frøken,” taking the ’70s folk vibe and peppering it with drifting notes of effects-laced lap steel (provided by Peter Knudsen), or even the countdown-to-launch that happens about halfway into opener “Psykonauten” atop a engine ignition of low-end buzz. Lorenzen may not be a stranger to the forms in which he works, but his mastery thereof is what makes Triprapport a voyage worth undertaking.

The launch that ensues there in a scorching, multi-layered electric lead is about as appropriate a beginning point as Lorenzen could give Triprapport, and what follows is due otherworldliness both in that song and “Alting Er Eet,” which follows in linear fashion seemingly headed on a direct course toward “far out,” synth and delay guitar intertwining in dramatic fashion in the midpoint break before Lorenzen starts a call and response to his own melody and the synth swells again. The title-track is indicative of some of the more garage-feeling rhythms Triprapport has on offer. “Alting Er Eet” and “Psykonauten” both certainly have movement — the opener punctuated by tambourine, the second track by a bass drum/snare and the aforementioned shaker — but the tablas and tambourine of “Triprapport” as well as the pinging sitar notes that accompany (courtesy of Vicki Singh) add a sense of boogie that the later “Floden,” indeed with more sitar, answers later.

“Floden” is the shortest track on Triprapport at 3:17, but Lorenzen only hits the five-minute mark twice and one of those is for the finale cover. Still, “Floden”‘s relative surge of push is well-placed in side B as it follows the drift of “Angakkoq” and “Lille Fugl” with “Aldrig Mere Ned” and “Hallo Hallo Frøken” still to go. It’s a moment whereby Lorenzen directly engages the listener, especially in a linear format (CD, digital), allowing for some grounding factor following the acoustic-and-organ-and-flute (the latter contributed by Adam Dreisler) interplay of “Lille Fugl.” Both that track and “Angakkoq” before it have some percussive aspect, whether it’s the triangle of “Angakkoq” or what might be a bass drum so far back in the mix of “Lille Fugl” that it sounds like water droplets, but “Floden” is a well-placed cosmic burst of energy, that, without losing the melodic focus that proves so resonant throughout Triprapport, responds to the title-track’s classic psychedelia with more of the same as heard in its running measures between verse lines.

As the last original track, “Aldrig Er Eet” feels like a significant moment for Lorenzen as a songwriter, and it might be, with a somewhat moodier pulse, subtle backing line of synth or effects lower register and lower in the mix, as well as a march in acoustic guitar and percussion, but it’s not at all out of place with what comes before it or even what comes after, as “Hallo Hallo Frøken” is brought well into the character of the rest of Triprapport, the lap steel taking the place of the strings in the original and Lorenzen replacing the Dylan-gone-krautrock of the original with his own approach. Across the entire span of Triprapport — its manageable 36-minute run just about ideal for a traditional two-sided LP — the songs are a reminder of just how much character Lorenzen puts into his songwriting. It is, in the end, his work, and however traditional the form in which he’s working might be intended to be, there’s no doubting the progressive aspects of Triprapport even as relates to Galmandsværk.

That is perhaps something the gone-to-a-cabin storyline in which the album occurs takes as a given, but it’s worth highlighting all the same that Lorenzen is nothing short of a master when it comes to psychedelic composition. His work in Baby Woodrose speaks for itself, but can be somewhat opaque for a new listener to take on — in the age-old question of where to start, I’d say the self-titled, but there’s really no wrong answer — but even the fact that the lyrics are in Danish lends his solo material a more personal atmosphere, though I’ll readily admit to my ignorance of the language. Nonetheless, while Lorenzen may be exploring this more personal mode of songwriting, he doesn’t at all lose the writing part of that equation. The material on Triprapport is as deceptive in its efficiency as it is fluid in its front-to-back flow. Ultimately, this is what makes the album his own. Is it surprising? Probably not. But it’s gorgeous.

Uffe Lorenzen on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Bandcamp

Baby Woodrose website

Bad Afro Records on Bandcamp

Bad Afro Records on Thee Facebooks

Bad Afro Records website

[Click play above to stream ‘På Kanten Af Verden’ from Uffe Lorenzen’s Galmandsværk. Album is out Nov. 10 on Bad Afro Records.]

It would be difficult to overstate the level to which Uffe Lorenzen has contributed to the Danish and wider European heavy underground. Better known by the stage alias of Lorenzo Woodrose, Lorenzen was a member of pivotal anti-trend psych rockers On Trial before going on to found Baby Woodrose and, with that group, assume a figurehead role for Danish garage rock and heavy psychedelia that he maintains to this day — to wit, Baby Woodrose‘s 2016 full-length, Freedom (review here), was marvelous — driven by a relentless creativity that has led him to not only evolve that band but found and contribute to other projects like Dragontears and Spids Nøgenhat, keeping a steady flow of releases through Bad Afro Records and other labels and building a listenership and influence that at this point spans more than a generation.

Galmandsværk is not the first solo album Lorenzen has produced — there was the Pandemonica series of home recordings captured in the ’90s and released in the early 2000s, and Baby Woodrose‘s origins certainly stem from his compositional and performance method — but it is the first solo album he’s ever produced under his own name, and that would not seem to be a decision made lightly. That an artist with nearly 30 years of output under his belt would suddenly decide a single long-player represents his intent enough to put his real name on it when he’s never done so before? Not only that, but the write and sing songs for the first time in his native language?

That may or may not make Lorenzen‘s 10 inclusions on the 36-minute Galmandsværk — the title of which loosely translates to “act of madness” — the truest manifestation of who he is as an artist at this stage in his career, but it should definitely catch the eye of his followers, and taken in kind with the psych-folk basis and arrangements in many of these cuts, it seems to drive toward the notion of conversing with bedrock influences in Lorenzen‘s overall milieu. To be sure, cuts like “Ny By” and the earlier “Ridset Plade” bear the hallmark guitar fuzz and Mellotron spaciousness one might expect from Lorenzo Woodrose, but the shift in context toward a peaceful feel — not to mention the xylophone on “Ny By” — approaches garage rock vintage-ism from a new angle and makes for a deeply satisfying progression in style.

Backed by the not-at-all-language-dependent foundation of Lorenzen‘s songwriting — a standard that remains seemingly unfuckwithable, as shown here in the flute-laden dreamer “Flippertøs” and acoustic, backmasked-sample, keyboard-and-psych-wash-guitar sublime freakout of the penultimate “Høj Som Et Højhus” — Galmandsværk is at once quintessentially his own and a bold foray into new ground, the acoustic origins of many of the arrangements remaining prevalent while nonetheless fleshed out by electrics, keys, percussion and sundry other elements.

This is especially true on the longest cut and near-centerpiece, “På Kanten Af Verden,” which introduces sitar and percussive elements early into its 5:23 in order to set up a later-emerging jam that hits circa 3:45 joined by more weighted electric guitar tone and provides a singular, standout moment for the record as a whole, at once patient and scorching. In the serenity around it of songs like the aforementioned “Flippertøs” or “Dansker,” which opens, its vibrancy and resonance shimmer all the more, and with the bouncing jaw harp of the subsequent “Sang Om Merværdi,” it marks a turn in energy level that keeps Galmandsværk dynamic and all the more accomplished in its overarching sense of balance.

Fans of Baby Woodrose will no doubt recognize many of the elements at play here from that band, and if nothing else I think that speaks to the level at which that group has come to stand for Lorenzen as a player and composer — somehow making the transition to releasing under his own name seem increasingly natural — but between the language swap and the acoustic basis of songs like “Dansker” and the catchy “Rimets Tyranni” at the outset, Galmandsværk has no trouble establishing its own framework separate from that group, and its distinction does nothing to undercut the atmosphere of immersion and playfulness of style throughout, whether that’s the garage flourish of “Ridset Plade,” the wistful melodicism of “Min Skygge” or the final otherworldliness of “Blues for Havet,” which marks the return of the sitar that showed itself on “På Kanten Af Verden” — the end of side B perhaps calling back to the end of side A; a nod to structure of form one could only call suitable given Lorenzen‘s penchant for same in his craft.

Individual tracks move in any number of directions between garage rock, acid folk and classic psychedelia, but if nothing else, Galmandsværk — the bulk of which was reportedly written by Lorenzen on an island off the coast of Morocco over a 10-week stretch — is properly presented under the artist’s name. It is his own, and he absolutely owns it across what despite the level of engagement remains an utterly manageable LP span. While I’ll admit to feeling somewhat at a disadvantage compared to someone who might be able to examine the lyrics on their own level for being in Danish and talk about Lorenzen‘s representation of himself, of Copenhagen, of Denmark and so on, what comes through clearly in this material regardless of the words being said is a universal nature of sonic equilibrium — a poise that holds itself forward as a crucial aspect no matter where a single track might veer around it.

This can be seen as a function of the single origin of the songs themselves, and with Lorenzen thus at the core, the album is entirely his own. It’s been floated the solo-project will be an ongoing modus of exploration for Lorenzen from here on out, and while it’s difficult to imagine Baby Woodrose being put to rest given the vitality of Freedom and the band’s continued impact, if he does indeed choose to focus elsewhere even for some measure of time, this first act of madness brims with potential for future development while emphasizing the root of what has always made his work so special. It is a triumph, a worthy landmark, and hopefully another step in the ever-forward path of a storied career.

Uffe Lorenzen, “Flippertøs” official video

Uffe Lorenzen on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Thee Facebooks

Baby Woodrose on Bandcamp

Baby Woodrose website

Spids Nøgenhat on Thee Facebooks

Galmandsværk at Bad Afro Records Bandcamp

Bad Afro Records on Thee Facebooks

Bad Afro Records website

Oh shit I want to hear this. Today if possible. Like, the sooner the better. A solo album sung in Danish by Uffe Lorenzen, AKA Lorenzo Woodrose? So you mean to tell me that the arguable spearhead of modern Danish heavy psych and garage rock, founder of Baby Woodrose, Dragontears and Spids Nøgenhat has found an avenue of expression so personal that not only is he unwilling to translate it into English, but he’s also refusing to release it under any but his actual, real name? Written on some island off the coast of Morocco? Fuck yes. Sign me up. Sign me up faster. Sign me up today. I want to hear this. Presently.

Lorenzen has always been a key songwriter in the above-listed outfits, and going back to a project called Pandemonica in 2002 he’s shown an interest in solo releases, but this would seem to be a different level entirely. He’s got the single “Flippertøs” streaming now ahead of the Nov. 10 release of the album, titled Galmandsværk, and I’m sorry, but if you listen to this track and aren’t immediately as stoked on the prospect of hearing the rest of the record as I am, you’re living wrong.

So live right:

Uffe Lorenzen – Galmandsværk

Uffe Lorenzen (alias Lorenzo Woodrose) is the frontman of Baby Woodrose and Spids Nøgenhat but from now on he will be recording and performing under his own name and be singing in Danish. The first result is the new solo album Galmandsværk (loosely translates to “act of madness”) that was conceived during a vacation on the island Gomera near the coast of Marocco where Uffe Lorenzen stayed in a small room doing nothing but writing new songs.

“Flippertøs” (Hippie Chick) is the first single from Galmandsværk. While the rest of the album sounds as if Baby Woodrose, Spids Nøgenhat and Dragontears merged and turned into something new, “Flippertøs” stands out as the most traditional pop song on the record.

Uffe Lorenzen: “Flippertøs was an attempt to write about all the things I missed about being home in Copenhagen, meanwhile sitting all alone, staring at the ocean and playing my guitar on a small volcanic island for 10 weeks. The lyric ended up namedropping a lot of my favourite places in Copenhagen, like Loppen, Floss, Kronborggade, Lygtens Kro, etc.. I guess it is a song about longing on many levels, but there is also a bit of social criticism in it. MAYBE the hippie chick in the song IS Copenhagen?”

“Flippertøs” will be available digitally September 8th. Galmandsværk will be released November 10th on LP/CD and digital.

Video for “Flippertøs” made by Palle Demant.

https://www.facebook.com/BabyWoodrose/
https://babywoodrose.bandcamp.com/
https://babywoodrose.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/spidsnogenhat/
https://badafrorecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/badafrorecords/
http://badafro.dk/