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We’re releasing new music!! Our last release was in 2019 - the longest break we’ve taken since Afenginn began over two decades ago. But while it’s been quiet on the surface, we’ve been building underneath.

And today it begins. AELVA is the first single from Movements I - our eighth album, and the opening step in a long-form trilogy. In many ways it is the first movement. Exciting!

It’s a big day today! We’re releasing the first single from the upcoming Movements I album.

We haven’t put out any new music since the Klingra album in early 2019, so it’s exciting (and a little surreal) to finally begin sharing this new material that we’ve been working on for quite a while.

So here it starts.

The first single is called AELVA. It’s also the opening track on the actual album - and one of the first pieces I wrote when I started composing for Movements a few years ago.

Aelva opens with a choral-like theme, almost like a hymn. (Though in the single edit, that intro is left out, so you’ll have to wait for the album version to hear it.) But even if you don’t hear it, it’s there. The piece is built from that starting point - the quiet, floating hymn - which then settles into an 11/8 piano ostinato.

That C-minor, odd-meter pattern sat on my working board for a long time - years actually - while I circled around it, unsure how to shape it. Eventually I found a five-bar chord progression that wrapped around it like a kind of motherly care. I imagined the choral theme floating on top of this pearly stream - and for a while, that was the whole piece: a hymn-like melody suspended in its own harmonic and rhythmic dimension over the 11/8 stream.

I had a clear sense of what I wanted to create, though, but kept drifting away from finalising the form - until just before we started recording in February this year. I think I needed the ideas to mature, and honestly, it just took time to craft it right. When I finally sat down to finish it, it went pretty fast.

I wrote a cello/violin theme over the “motherly bed,” and began merging the choral theme into the ostinato - transforming the harmony of the hymn into a piano arpeggio that resembles the 11/8 figure. At the same time, the drumming (beautiful Ewe drums by Anders Hvidberg, blending with Ulrik’s groove) gradually shifts the feel from 11/8 into a kind of 4/4 halftime - the rhythmic space of the choral.

With the arpeggio, it became possible to let the harmony float and develop underneath until everything locks into a 4/4 presentation of the hymn, with straighter drums and solid bass giving it a grounded foundation.

Heðin did an amazing job putting it all together and making it sound like the album opener I dreamed of.

The single version of Aelva is out today on all platforms. We edited it quite a bit to mold it into something more bite-sized and suited for the single format: shorter, and in some ways more focused.

In one week, we’ll release another version - the Close-Up version - which is darker, heavier, and shows a different side of Aelva.

Hope you’ll enjoy it!

Put it on your playlists, download it, share it - and let it flow.

There’s much more to come in the months ahead.

og det er i frederiksberg hospitalskirke kl 19 og helt unpluggged og spille på kirkerummet, som er ret lille - der er plads til 40. Det er i øvrigt gratis. Jeg ved to af jer der følger med herinde bor lige i nærheden..

Dear all,

At my concerts, I often say that music is something we share. That’s why I want to start sharing more—about the music, the process, the things I’m working on—with those of you who actually want to hear it. Those of you who took the time to sign up for this newsletter.

I’ve moved everything over to this new platform, Sleeve, because I need a place where I can focus and connect more directly—with people who are genuinely curious and invested in what I do. Social media doesn’t seem to reach you anymore. Not the ones who really care, who actually listen. So this is my way of honoring that connection.

I’m always moved when I feel a kind of dedication from listeners. Recently, I played a concert in Jutland, and a couple had driven all the way from Germany just to be there. Moments like that make me want to create a space for more real dialogue. A place where I can also ask you what you think—something I’d never do on Facebook. The chances of meaningful feedback there are slim. But here? Here I feel there’s space for what I do to resonate—and for it to echo back.

So, here’s an invitation. To the open, turquoise space we’ll build together.

As a beginning, I want to share the first track from my upcoming album, out this September. You get to hear it early. It’s called “Embrace”. It was the last piece I wrote in the studio—it insisted on being part of the album. It carries light, movement, and an open invitation. It also feels like a new way of composing for me—something I haven’t quite written in this way before.

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Embrace

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By the way...

Some things are more fun than other things.. Making music is usually quite fun, and recording with wonderful musicians is always a blast.
But recording with a symphony orchestra is a rare treat that always does something special. It's quite hands off in a way, since you can't talk to 60+ musicians individually, but does so through the score and the conductor.

I'm so extremely fortunate to have been given the opportunity to write the complete score for an upcoming ballet called 'Madigan', based on the true story of circus princess Elvira Madigan and Swedish officer Sixten Sparre.
Their story is as famous as it is tragic, and new light has been shed on their journey, shedding new light on their story, which was not at all as romantic as was once thought.

The ballet does not premiere until 2029, but we are already releasing one piece of music from it, to coincide with a new Madigan Exhibition that opens in Denmark on July 4th.
The piece is called 'Dreams' (DK: 'Drømme), and will be released on streaming platforms on the same day.
But if you are a subscriber here on Sleeve, you get early access to the piece, and I would love your feedback, as I am very proud of it.
See it as a teaser for our upcoming project.

Do let me know what you think

POKEM! That’s how we say hello in Setenta-speak.

We’re trying something new here. After almost 20 years playing, recording, and dancing through the Latin soul universe, we’re launching this page to go deeper with you—our fans, our crew, our solar tribe.

This is where you can:

• Hear behind-the-scenes stories and unreleased takes
• Find our personal notes on songs and grooves
• Join us as we explore what it means to be a band in 2025
• And yeah… we might drop some exclusives you won’t find anywhere else.

Our latest album Apollo Solar Drive just landed—buy and stream it here on Sleeve or become a member and listen as much as you like. Also, you’ll get the stories that didn’t fit an insta post.

So stick around. Let’s turn listeners into fam.