The White Album at the Lexington

What a shame if you missed this gig. With three outstanding (not to mention eclectic) Scandinavian acts, The Lexington was the place to be on Thursday night.

In an interesting set order, the most well-known group went up first: The White Album. In the flesh, they are all you would expect of a neo-folk band – a trio of kindly bears equipped with guitars, each singing softly, or howling like phantoms into their microphones.

With quite a following already, the band enjoyed some endearing front fandom, and Danish banter circulated the room non-stop. So, apparently fulfilled that they had a receptive crowd (“hugs for everyone!” greets one guitarist), the band get down to business with track Another and then suddenly perk up with Guns and Ammo and Fall At Will (in the latter, whipping out a wildly amusing banjo).

For those unacquainted with neo-folk, it is (with The White Album, anyway) a bit of a mash-up between folk and progressive rock and, when the Danes do, healthy chunks of harmonies. The sound fills up the room and pleases with no deficiency. As we break away from these up-beat, synth-heavy tunes we come into some more sweet, almost crooning folk songs – the sweetest of which must be Your Mouth (video below), where the men’s harmonies, understated guitar and sensual but sentimental lyrics mix perfectly. 

If we could fault the trio in one place it would be the ending line-up – the penultimate song, Seasons End, was so comfortable, so entrancing that it would have ended the set perfectly, but instead we ended with Counting, which was no less wonderful, but woke the audience up a bit and dispelled the magic that had been laid over us. That, however, seems almost ungrateful of us; it was a pleasure to see this band. And having seen their group hug after the set, a pleasure to meet these people!

But enough of sentimentality. The next act was the chic, adorable but impossibly high-tech Phantom who played a set utilising one of the duo’s enigmatic gadgets (the “UFO”, for its discus shape and profoundly otherworldly sound) which, while having trances of main-stream pop and powerful vocals, had enough wacky electro elements to get stuck into.

The last act, Sandra Kolstad, was, initially, an intriguing creature: decked in a skin-tight cobalt-blue dress, topped with either white roses or meringues, flapping her arms in the air and, of course, screaming. Once initiated into the music, however, she was incredibly enjoyable – flouting beats and bass with glam-rock, and kept the audience entertained between tracks. 

So, yes, if you missed the gig it’s a shame, but word on the street is there will be more to see of these performers soon!

Jack Flanagan

For further information and future gigs visit The White Album’s official website here.

Watch the video for Your Mouth is a Fist here: