Copenhagen’s genre-blurring quartet HalfCutLemon (Jesper Christiansen, Jacob Birck Laustsen, Flemming Steen Andersen and Sigurd Kramer Hansen) have recently released their second full-length album, This Ain’t Real, which is out now via Aenaos Record. This unapologetically bold and consistently shape-shifting work that stretches from jagged punk energy to cinematic baroque-pop. Recorded at the legendary Sweet Silence Studio with producer Flemming Rasmussen, the album finds the band sharpening the outfit’s sound and expanding their emotional scope, tackling themes of turmoil, memory and renewal. With guest appearances from Danish icons Peter Peter and Persille Ingerslev, features the well-received singles ‘Ointment’ and ‘The Sun Is Dying’, which were both praised for their dynamic tension and raw intensity. With This Ain’t Real, HalfCutLemon continue to defy categorization with this intoxicating blend of post-punk grit with dreamlike atmospherics. For On The Record, we caught up with the band to talk about the making of their sophomore record, their ever-evolving sound, and the pursuit of meaning.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with HalfCutLemon, can you introduce yourselves?
First we would like to thank Unrecorded! for giving us this opportunity – HalfCutLemon is a post-punk band from Copenhagen with four members Jesper (vocal and synth) Flemming (bass and vocal) Sigi (plays guitar) Jacob (drums) – Three of us have made music together for many years in different projects and Jacob joined in 2014 and HalfCutLemon was born.
You’ve just released your second album, This Ain’t Real, which engages with themes of turbulence, memory and renewal. Can you talk about the themes that drove the songwriting?
Our songs emerge slowly from many jams where at some point Jesper delivers some lyrics based on common suggestions and the song kind of falls into place- sometimes many months may pass from initial idea to finished product – so the lyrics mirroring the current affairs wasn’t planned that much. The lyrics generally mirror a post-punk slightly cynical view of human nature but it doesn’t mean you just give up.
The sonic palette is also quite expansive, from jagged punk to baroque pop, do you think this diverse approach helped you to deeper explore those aspects of the human experience?
Our way of mixing genres might come from having been making music for many years and experience often broadening the perspective – somehow we often end up putting extra parts into a song – so much that it has become a trademark – we also use old ideas or numbers for new songs – eg Desert Sun was developed from an old piece of improvised electronica.
As a band, you’re known for genre-blending, so do you think that This Ain’t Real is consistent with that reputation or is it pushing the boundaries even further?
Our background in Punk music with the ‘no rules’ mindset, sometime make us do unexpected shifts in our songs, like slowing down in half tempo, or change genre in the middle of the song – not be smart, but because we think is sounds good.
Compared to the first lp “Oh No It’s U-Love!” released 2022 – the songs on “This Ain’t Real” are generally more raw apart from “The Sun is Dying” and “Summers Gone” being more mellow – but the genre blending hash tag works on both records.
Following on from your first album Oh No It’s U-Love!, how do you feel the band has evolved since that release?
First of all Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studio made us sound more dynamic on “This Ain’t Real” – he was equally at ease recording “Ointment” and “The Sun is Dying” – we think the songs on the new album are more focused and sharpened, but generally we didn’t evolve that much between lp’s – it was more that the new lp sounded better. Still “This Ain’t Real” might be more contemporary than “Oh No It’s U-Love!” which might seem more mystical and sci-fi like. On both records we feature Ella Cinder, a fictional female poet with a troubled background. So a common thread there.
Do you think there’s one song that best reflects the album as a whole?
“Up” which adds some fuck-you-joy to the state of the world – the song is an ode to “tenderness, renaissance, liberty” viewing the meaninglessness of everything as starting point instead of an obstacle – inspired by Albert Camus and his Sisyphus essay.
What role does optimism, as in ‘Summers Gone’ and ‘Up!’, play in your music amidst darker themes?
“Up” was just mentioned. And we think “Summers Gone” is not so much about optimism as about remembering, recalling- how we try to recapture that pure joy of childhood but often fail – a melancholic song about time passing – but also a praise to innocence.
What do you think the collaborations with Peter Peter and Persille Ingerslev have brought to the record?
Peter Peter, who is a dear friend os us, is mostly known as one of Denmarks best guitarist. We gave him the recorded songs, had a few wishes, but generally he was free to experiment with add-on to the songs. He adds vocals on Ointment and some great synths and FX all over on “This Ain’t Real”. He did the orchestral piece in the middle of “Ointment” which is fantastic and beautiful, and really give something special to the song. Peter Peter also worked with Persille and introduced her to us – on both albums she has added extra dimensions to the songs and especially “The Sun is Dying” became achingly beautiful thanks to her – also her experimental vocals on “Fist” added new layers.
Would you also say that working with Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studio also influenced the shape and sound?
We worked with Flemming Rasmussen largely as a recording engineer, afterwards he mixed and mastered the album – he wasn’t producing as such – but he delivered a much clearer and punchy sound – well, he might have guided us without us knowing .. also a theme running through “This Ain’t Real” 🙂
Following the release of your second album, what will be next on the horizon for you?
Right now we are working on new material, that hopefully will end up as a 12 inch EP…
You can also listen to lead single ‘Ointment’ in our Outsiders Club playlist.
Follow HalfCutLemon:
UNRECORDED 