The Foreign Resort are an alternative, electro-infused, shoegazing rock band from Copenhagen, whose wave of dark and hauntingly beautiful songs seduce and mesmerise, with their spectral and euphoric tones. Established in 2006, The Foreign Resort is comprised of Mikkel B Jakobsen on vocals/guitars, Morten Hansen on Drums/Vocals, Henrik Fischlein on guitar and Patrick Ryming on Bass. In November 2011, The Foreign Resort released their self-titled EP across the globe, including the songs “Orange Glow”, “Take a Walk” and “Heart Breaks Down” which received rave reviews both locally and internationally.
Although you can hear the hazy influences of bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division, The Foreign Resort are very much their own band and masters of the new wave of dark electro-guitar infused music. Just listening to The Foreign Resort, takes you to a dark and obscure place that makes you feel you’ve been slightly drugged up or put under a hypnotic trance. Apart from their robust and resilient spirit, The Foreign Resort convey a vulnerability or a heightened sensitivity which is transmitted through their subliminal workstation. Somehow subconsciously, The Foreign Resort emits their SOS calls by tapping into some eerie, fuzzy radio transmitter where the antenna precariously wavers between the nebulous realms. Amongst the droning and intricate synths, The Foreign Resort ingeniously convey their moods through their paradoxical guitars, which huddle and mutate into more telescopic riffs.
Orange Glow
Imagine being consumed by desire, to the point where it burns inside and it takes you to a dark place, where you feel bemused and tortured. A place where Lucifer’s cloud is descending, drizzling its contaminated rain. Listening to “Orange Glow” makes you feel like you’ve been caught up on a devil’s highway, where the opening solid synths soon corrode and skid against the derailed guitars. Amongst the weighty drones, you can hear the oblique guitars nestling in the murky fog and sorrow burning its embers. With the solemn vocals of Jakobsen and the synchronicity of the aerial, nosediving guitars, you can sense the “Fallen angels falling from the sky…” You can hear the conflict, the angst and the pain. If the pecking and clunky synths weren’t nagging enough, you’ve got those guitars subdividing and gravitating towards no-man’s land. Hearing those salt-shaking synths and submerging bass, you can feel the tension and can’t help empathising with the lyric “We feel the power burning but twice as hard”. With the alloy of shrieking rifts and sonic drones, “Orange Glow” crashes and burns, leaving an aftermath of eternal flames.
Heart Breaks Down
Despite the obvious Joy Division and New Order influences, “Heart Breaks Down” is very much an original standalone song that illustrates The Foreign Resort’s diversity as a band. It’s one of those songs which screams from the soul and wails from the heart. With its ethereal backdrop, “Heart Breaks Down” is a hauntingly beautiful song, whose aching rifts resonate against the chilling synths. Despite the sorrowful lyrics, “Heart Breaks Down’s” the emotions are filtered through Jakobsen’s languid vocals, which narcotize you to a dark and secluded place. With its opening droning and sonic beats, “Heart Breaks Down” glides on shuddering waves, before it’s interrupted by the single-minded, New Order-esqe and crunchy riffs. However what’s captivating about “Heart Break Down” is the way the lyrics synchronise with the unfolding sounds. Whilst Jakobsen delivers the lyrics: “Heart aches, heart breaks tumbling down…” the drilling synths cause seismic waves to ripple against the breaking rifts. Such synths penetrate to the emotional core and become compressed and embedded in the backdrop of the tortured synths. Along with the dual vocals and the meshed up drones, “Heart Breaks Down’s” anguish is leaked through the lonesome crunchy and luminous riffs that rotate and curve against the lethargic tones.
Take a Walk
“Take a Walk” is one of The Foreign Resorts more accessible songs, whose frank and earthy lyrics are fuelled by the stomping drums, rejuvenating bass and raucous guitars. With lyrics such as: “…my heart is open wide, my heart is open wide… just bouncing on the edge, wanting to hurt all the time”, “Take a Walk” is a heavy-duty song, which switches on and off its self-destruct button. It’s also a song whose guitars fuse together and become unhinged allowing the wayward rifts to drift through the tilted chambers. Whereas Jakobsen’s authoritative vocals command, the guitars awaken the senses, seductively sending you into a sedated daze . What has all the makings of a classic rock song is soon ripped apart and transformed into a sublime, shoegazing/post-punk hybrid. It’s through the undertow of eerie guitars that “Take a Walk” reveals its fuzzy emotions and vulnerable core. With a polarity of riffs, “Take a Walk” sways in hostility, unifiying through the intense marching clatter. It’s also a song which intensifies through the Joy Divsion-esque bassline, whilst the translucent and scratchy riffs hover around the sturdy demeanor.