thirty five: Choir of Young Believers

Choir of Young Believers is the collaborative efforts of Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, Anders Rhedin, Jakob Milung, Cæcilie Trier, Lasse Herbst, Casper Henning Hansen, Bo Rande, Mette Sand Hersoug and Nicolai Kleinerman, and yes from those names I'd hope you would realise we're talking overseas here. Copenhagen, Denmark to be exact! But if we're being picky, COYB is actually Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, also part of Lake Placid.

I was originally drawn to the band when I saw them on a Chess Club flyer with Mechanical Bride and One Little Plane, I knew two of them were great, so why not add a third to that mix? COYB are pretty darn good if I'm honest. Think Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses and The National.

The first song I heard was Claustrophobia, the track that incidentally reminds me most of Band of Horses. As Jannis begins to sing "You give me claustrophobia" in an oddly timed fashion, there are waves of instruments behind him as he continues on into falsetto land. It's the first of many layered songs you are due to hear.

Elsewhere there's twinklers like ActionReaction that have the summer sheen of Fleet Foxes and gorgeous, refined choruses that resound through the air. It's like a breath of fresh air for the ears. No, really.

The thing I really like about Choir of Young Believers is the sheer variety of their music. For instance, one second it's a song like ActionReaction that dips your feet in sunshine and the next it's We Talk On The Phone, a track that really highlights the vocal talent COYB has in its ranks. We Talk On The Phone slowly moves along accompanied by a tambourine and wind instruments, creating a very natural atmosphere in the song. All this comes in lapping waves of sound before the track dips into dormancy and then surges up into a final chorus that repeats the song title simplistically.

We Talk On The Phone is a track from COYB's outstanding 2007 EP Burn The Flag. This EP includes the storming Sharpen Your Knives, which can be compared to ActionReaction in vocal stylings as Jannis and co. sing "Sharpen you knives/The fear in your fire!", and all the while there's the slam of drums peppered with outcrops of vocals haunting the listener from its depths.

Jannis offered his first LP this year in the shape of ten track, This is for The Whites of Your Eyes. Not only an imaginative title but also a critically acclaimed album. Aforementioned Claustrophobia and ActionReaction are included in the listing, aswell as single Next Summer, a song for the forlorn lover in anybody. And once again, Jannis has produced a fantastic soundscape that stirs mountains and soars across lakes with the sheer capacity of the collective instruments.
Let your ears breathe.

Listen to ActionReaction here.