Hailing from Denmark, she’s the singer songwriter whose low-key productions and haunting vocals are ethereally goosebump giving. Signed to ANTI, the same label as Kate Bush, Tom Waits and Nick Cave, she released her debut single Sun Has Gone late last year and is now ready to bring May to April. Moving from city to city during her adolescence, she was previously one part of Glass Arena before going it alone as Broken Twin.
Hi Majke, how are you?
Hi, I’m good thanks. I’m in Prague tonight.
For someone who hasn’t heard your music, how would you describe your sound?
I used to say it’s minimalistic, slow, simple songs, but that doesn’t say much really. Then I said it’s mostly piano, but I tend to give up and ask people to listen to it instead. I like hearing how other people describe it,. Someone once told me it was soul music. I liked that.
When did you first fall in love with music?
I’ve always loved music. My father used to play piano with me when I was a child, and we went through a lot of classic pop rock songs, like the Beatles’ Here, There and Everywhere – stuff like that. I loved singing with him and I’d always force him to keep on going. As I got older I started sitting by the piano by myself, singing and improvising, making up small songs. Later on, I started playing with a good friend. We went to this coaching camp. It was in a holiday camp, where we had nothing to do and there was free food. We were just messing around, having a good time doing music, but that’s where I met my manager. And that was some sort of turning point. Realising that other people saw something in the music gave me a bit of the courage. I needed to believe that my music could do something for people other than myself.
Who are your musical heroes?
I love a lot of songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Tom Waits and Stina Nordenstam for instance. I guess I’m a bit old fashioned – I just like good songs. And good lyrics. And simplicity. The Smiths, Nico. But I’d listen to anything, really – as long as it excites me.
May is out 28th April
Watch new video Glimpse Of A Time
Credits
Text Zainab Jama
Image Broken Twin