With their upcoming EP, they are yet again on the look to renew their song writing: Where there before were lying Marshall amps bleeding everywhere, there are now techno-synths and acoustic guitars in between the cigarettes and beers on the floor. Duvel's new EP "Talking to Ourselves", is a brutally honest collection of dynamic lyrics and a raw soundscape which reflects the message of the texts.
Originating from the basement of the autonomous youth community house Blitz in Oslo, Duvel became front runners for the underground minimalist post-punk scene with their debut album from 2018. On their second album, which came out in 2021, the raw post-punk from the first album developed in the direction of 90s Britpop / Madchester. With their upcoming EP, they are yet again on the look to renew their song writing.
Talking to Ourselves tells about the duality of ordinary life,
the ugly and the beautiful, the self-image that is constantly changing,
the dramatic and the most boring. The dynamics between the musical and
the lyrical feed off each other and drag you through the record.
Frontman Jack Holldorff says:
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The lyrics were written during a period of life that felt like an
emotional wheel of fortune. Rather than writing about in a way that
flatters me, I have tried to approach the songs in such an honest way
that it almost feels uncomfortable.
About the band:
The band project Duvel was started in 2017, but first and foremost
the band is a group of friends. Jack and drummer Brage are from the same
street, as are bassist Zacharias and Kaspar. When the teenagers in the
end decided to make a band, it was most of all because they did not find
any local bands they could like at the time.
Jack says:
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It neither spoke to us nor for us. Our ambitions then were really just
to make some awesome stuff, and maybe, get some credit from the few
people we looked up to. We wanted to be a band which not everyone knew,
but that they either way would notice that we were there. Actually, we
were just trying to be a kind of musical guerrilla force in Oslo.
For
us, Duvel feels like something much bigger than just us in the band.
It's the whole network around. The group of friends, our community.
Self-chosen family. Political, social and romantic.
Socially, as musically, one chooses one's own values.
We have chosen ours.
Photo: Yina Chang