by Chris Hatch

Danish duo, Communions, explore the intense relationship between love and obsession on their latest single, Splendour.

With a similar musical tension to XTC’s Making Plans For Nigel, Splendour’s taut first verse talks of ‘the depths of a wishing well’, ‘blood running cold’, and ‘souls on fire’ as brothers, Mads and Martin Rehof, feel the sickly sting of unrequited love. But it’s Splendour’s exquisite chorus that is that real standout of the track – a sparkling, ambitious swathe of pop that’s threaded with the DNA of their North European cousins. But while the likes of Mew and Sigur Ros create music with a towering glaciality, Communions choose to thaw things out a little and a gorgeous indie-pop jangle gives their sound more warmth and optimism.

Spending some of their formative years between Seattle and the outskirts of the hippy enclave that is Christiania, you’d expect a little more experimentation from the pair, but while Splendour lacks a little in inventiveness, it more than makes it up for it with a dazzling chorus. Communions haven’t quite perfected the blueprint for Scandinavian pop, but they’ve written a first draft that leaves us eagerly awaiting the next act.

Splendour is out now on Tambourhinoceros.

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