Danish composer and producer Trentemøller combines his electro-pop genius with the indie-pop vocals of Lina Tullgren to create a dreamy electro-pop masterpiece. The first few bars of “In The Garden” make the listener think they are about to dive into an upbeat bop. But they will soon find that Trentemøller waxes reflective once again.
“I was thinking about how we don’t really write songs. We’re more like conduits for them, and often lyrics just flow out of you without any sort of rhyme or reason. Sometimes it’s decisive, and you’re simply trying to capture what and how you felt in a situation, but more often it’s not about a deliberate process, and more like blindly channelling [sic].” says Lisa Tullgren.
Tullgren’s deconstructive view of songwriting clearly influences her creative approach. Her style perfectly pairs with Trentemøller’s vision for “In The Garden.” Using elements of nature and color as recurring symbols, Tullgren adds her postmodern lyrics to Trentemøller’s eclectic soundscape, placing the listener somewhere between sleeping and waking.
I will deconstruct
Gravity is me it’s leaking out
Of my identity
In the golden tide
On the beach where i
See a smoking gun
I cover up my eyes
With an almost imperceptible melodic build and obscure lyrics, these two creatives open up an eerie space for listeners to interpret their own meaning. Although the song does not tell a concrete story, the listener still feels an ache of tension within — the cognitive dissonance inherent in the electro-indie genre. Maintaining this ethereal theme, Trentemøller ties the song together with a self-produced moody music video lacking any human subject matter.
Typically Trentemøller creates instrumental numbers, but he went out on a limb collaborating with Tullgren. In my humble opinion, this calculated risk was a huge success. I wonder if he will feature other collaborators in his upcoming album ‘Observe.’
