Casper Clausen, Mads Brauer and Rasmus Stolberg grew up on the small Danish island of Als. Moving to Copenhagen with the innocent hope of becoming full-time musicians, the three friends soon met drummer Thomas Husmer and formed Efterklang late in 2000. Pianist Rune Mølgaard was also in the original line-up.

Efterklang’s first release was Springer in 2003, an EP on the band’s own indie label Rumraket. By 2004, Efterklang had completed their dazzling debut album Tripper, which incorporated strings, a brass section, a choir and guest lead vocalists and in that same year they signed to the UK-based Leaf Label. Tripper was released to widespread critical acclaim, celebrated for the skill and artistry with which the band were able to blend vivid acoustic instrumentation with Brauer’s laptop electronics.

Their next album, Parades (2007) was even more ambitious, featuring 30 guest musicians, including strings, brass and several choirs, layered in the band’s own studio in Copenhagen. After the eighteen months of hard work spent on Parade, Efterklang went out on the road with an eight-piece touring line-up, playing more than 130 gigs around the world before the ending the tour over a year later in December 2008. During this time they also collaborated with composer Karsten Fundal and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra to make an orchestrated version of Parades, released in as a live album in October 2009. For their third full-length album, Efterklang signed to 4AD, creating their most ‘band-like’ record to date in Magic Chairs. Where artists like the Beatles, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Talk Talk and Soft Machine started with short pop songs before moving into more extended forms, Efterklang’s trajectory has been in the opposite direction. As such, Magic Chairs is the closest they’ve come to a straightforward album of songs. Preparing for their new album in a more organic, rock’n’roll way, the four core members of Efterklang began the process of writing new material by stripping their music down to its core. For a band regarded for its complex electroacoustics and grandiose orchestrations, this was a brave move, but Magic Chairs was to prove far from conventional. Though each track sounds quite different to the others, the album is characterized by the same restless energy and sonic ingenuity that made Tripper and Parades so memorable. Ultimately, Efterklang make unique pop music, and it seems clear that their new approach to songwriting and recording has brought the band’s instinctive tunefulness to the fore.