One of the clichés about Scandinavian countries is that they are neat and tidy, well
ordered, clean. The same could not be said of Copenhagen four-piece When Saints Go
Machine's second full-length album, 'Infinity Pool'. The opposite, in fact. It's a record
born out of an atmosphere of chaos.
It's harder, darker and more synthetic than its predecessors. It opens with 'Love And
Respect', which features a guest vocal from Grammy award winning rap artist Killer
Mike, who freewheels over chugging, synth-drenched beat. Elsewhere, 'Dead Boy' sees
Vonsild's tremulous falsetto digitized and then floated over a semi-ambient sounds-
cape, while 'Infinity Killer' pitches skittering sound effects against a low-end drone.
On the previous album, 'Konkylie', we tried to make machines simulate nature,' says
Vonsild. 'With 'Infinity Pool' we were trying to capture a feeling of the absurdity of
mankind trying to construct nature. Maybe it's something to do with being in the city.
You are always influenced by what's going on around you.'
It's also to do with the music that inspired them. 'There are a lot of references to the
early '90s on the album,' says Vonsild. 'It's not a rave album, but there are a lot of
elements of rave on there. 'Degeneration' sums up what we were trying to do. There are
some tracks on the album that could almost have been rave songs under other circum-
stances. I think that it's one of the songs that I don't think anyone else would have
made.'
Rather than go at these rave influences full tilt, they did the opposite of what might be
expected: they stripped them down and twisted them into new shapes.
The dark undercurrent that coloured the band's previous releases is intact, then. It's
something that makes the fact that When Saints Go Machine won a string of awards in
their native Denmark last year all the more surprising. Vonsild is sanguine about that
kind of music industry approval.
While it's nice to be liked, Vonsild says it's far more important to challenge people as
well as yourself. He says they felt nervous about the direction they took on 'Infinity
Pool', unease that they were operating outside their comfort zone. 'But,' he adds,
'that's a good thing. Whenever you feel a bit scared about putting something out, that's
how you should feel as an artist.'