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Put away your bathing suits and top 40 compilation CD’s. The time to sip wine and sit by fireplaces is coming, and this will be the soundtrack to those moments.

Denmark’s Choir Of Young Believers describe their music as ‘orchestral pop’ and they seem intent on backing that claim up. ‘This Is For The White In Your Eyes’, the group’s debut album, is loaded with string arrangements, French horns, banjos and dark lyrics delivered by hypnotic vocals and harmonies from lead singer Jannis Noya Makrigiannis.

You see, they aren’t actually a choir. In fact, there’s only one vocalist, backed by his band. The use of instruments and Jannis’ soaring voice in combination with the band’s name give somewhat of a religious undertone or theme to the album. “I’m not really religious in any way, explains singer Jannis. “I think it’s just the sound that we’re going for. I don’t think it’s stupid to be religious but I do think it’s narrow-minded to believe what was written in a book so long ago. But I do like religious references and the whole mystique surrounding it. I’m sometimes very fascinated by religious people. The last time I was in Williamsburg I just sat a whole day and just watched these Hasidic Jews walking around. I don’t know why but I’m drawn to it and I like that mystique in my music as well.”

For a breakthrough band comparisons are imminent. “I can understand why people sometimes want to use references to describe music. It’s the easiest way to describe the music but it’s also the silliest thing. Maybe even a little bit cheap.” says Jannis. But for Choir Of Young Believers there seems to be one certain band they get compared to ad infinitum. “Yeah, Fleet Foxes, it’s a very nice band. I can see how some people think there’s some resemblances in our voices but I think in general our music is very different from each other. Either way, I don’t really care, they can say whatever they want.”

For a group in which all the members have side projects and bands, their debut came out quite cohesive. “Sometimes we play as a duo or a quartet and I think that’s a good way of keeping the songs alive and never getting stuck in one certain way of playing sounds.” But never does it sound as if these people haven’t been playing together for years. So although their moniker can be quite misleading, if somewhere in the world a choir of young believers were to record an orchestral pop album, this is what it’d sound like.

Words by Hemza Lasri

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