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 songwriting. 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. 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: “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.”
Speaking about the EP opener, “Mazel Tov”, Jack continues: “”In my mind, molotov is written from a very uncharming perspective. A young man who’s not able to view himself from the outside. Toxic masculinity and a lacking ability to deal with greif perhaps.”
“It took some time to get it right musically as well. We struggled with it for some time. We all ended up liking it a lot though. I think it’s some of our best work yet. I had been sitting on the lyrics for a while, but couldn’t really make sense of them musically. Then Kaspar came along with some piano-chords, and it kind of evolved from there. We recorded it with Morten Øby who also did the mix, in taakeheimen lydrike, and it was mastered by Brian Lucy. So yeah, there you go. We present to you: the soundtrack for your next super unhealty ketamine-bender”
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 continues: “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.”
The new Duvel EP “Talking To Ourselves” will be released 24th of june on the label Fysisk Format.
