Things are bad. I don’t have to tell you things are bad.
Yes, I’m borrowing a line from the film Network, but rather than going down the path to Howard Beale-style doomsaying, I’m choosing instead to focus on the things that make us happy (specifically music in this case – we are a music blog after all) in order to distract a bit from all the bad things. And if we’re talking about things that make us happy, Roskilde is one of my happy places.
I’ve attended the Danish festival, held in the city of the same name, multiple times now and it never fails to impress. From the varied musical lineup to the art installations to the general sense of community, the festival has a great vibe and in many ways it seems to embody the Danish concept of hygge. Or to put it in terms most Roskilde attendees would understand, the Orange Feeling.
This year, Roskilde Festival is celebrating its 50th edition (providing everything’s back to normal by then) and while I probably won’t be there, I was lucky enough to attend the 2019 edition, where I saw a diverse lineup of acts spanning a wide range of genres.
Of all the acts I saw over the course of those four days, one of the most unique performances I took in was a set by Copenhagen-based composer Astrid Sonne. Her sound, combining electronic and classical elements, was rather impressive to hear and to see performed live, especially within the confines of the festival’s intimate Gloria Stage.
Check out the video for “Area Under A Curve,” off of Astrid Sonne’s latest release Cliondynamics, below.