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| Daugaard (keys), Lukas (vocals) Magnum (bass), Lovestick (drums) |
As a Dane living in Southern California, I have to say it was pretty trippy to hear a Danish band on L.A. radio station KKRQ the other day. The quartet Lukas Graham takes its name after 27-year-old frontman Lukas Forchhammer as well as his Irish father Eugene Graham who lived and worked in Copenhagen's famous Freetown Christiania community until his death at age 61 in the fall of 2012, the year his son hit it big in Europe.
The fourteen-track debut full-length 'Lukas Graham' dropped that same year in Europe; its cover was used again in 2015 for the follow up twelve-track album, nicknamed the 'Blue Album' and also self-titled. April 1 will see a worldwide release of the eleven-track 'Lukas Graham' album; the songs are almost exclusively taken from the ''Blue Album'.
The band's huge international hit and the opening track on the coming worldwide release "7 Years" is a moving tale thanks to its poignant lyrics and flawless vocals; it is accompanied by an excellent b/w video by NYC based Danish director Rene Sascha Johannsen.
No shows in Denmark or elsewhere are currently scheduled, but that is bound to change after April 1 so be sure to check their FB page for tour updates.
NOTE: The art work used for the album covers is a 1992 painting by Danish painter Lars Helweg who based it on a b/w nude photo of Swedish movie star Anita Ekberg (famous for her small but pivotal role in Fellini's classic 1960 film La Dolce Vita) published in Playboy Magazine in 1956. Helweg's painting was previously used by Danish hard rock band September for their 1995 debut album; also their last. The original still hangs at Cafe Wilder, a stone's throw from Christiania; its title is 'The Lady with the Bottles'.
NOTE: iTunes cropped the image so that only the woman's face is shown. For the April 1 album release, Warner Brothers has opted for what might be termed borderline censorship, using a doctored version featuring a young boy standing in front of the painting in an art museum setting, a security guard to his left.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lukas-graham/id473219952
https://www.facebook.com/LukasGraham
http://directorrsj.com/
