New Music We’re Loving: IRAH
Denmark via Berlin crew IRAH have come up with one of our favourite tunes of 2016, Into Dimensions. It’s a lilting epic bringing to mind artists like W.E.T. or James Blake. It also follows a stream of great new pop acts coming out of Denmark such as Liss and Soleima. We wanted to find out more about this emerging act.
‘Into Dimensions’ is an extraordinary debut single. Maybe you could tell us a bit about who you are?
We decided to meet and play music without any plans to make a band – just a session where we’d improvise together. What would later become ‘Into Dimensions’ came up during this session and brought us into deep connection with each other, and gave us a feeling of leaving our bodies, becoming one. After this experience we felt inspired to do more music together – and the feeling of connecting on a spiritual level has been the main theme throughout our first batch of songs.
You recorded this in Berlin?
Berlin was actually more of a short refuge for us, as we wanted to sharpen our collective focus and avoid everyday home town distractions. And the studio Funkhaus where we recorded our debut single supplied an inspiring atmosphere, with lots of head-space, away from the heavy populated parts of Berlin.
Can you tell us something about your previous lives as artists? Previous acts, etc.?
We have all been playing in a lot of different bands and projects of the Copenhagen music scene – both as steady members and as sidemen. We’ve had very different individual roles in these bands, doing arranging, producing, etc., and of course as instrumentalists. Some of these bands are Tambourhinoceros’ Frisk Frugt, The Magnetic Eagle, We Were Born Canaries, and lots of others.
You have this dark brooding and melodic sound. What are your influences?
Inspiration comes in so many forms – in meditation, when exploring music, nature, through reading, eating, etc. Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ was a big inspiration for us when it came out – in terms of exploring and dreaming of other galaxies and dimensions, and also it inspired us more concretely from the beautiful Hans Zimmer score. Some other common musical influences for us, despite our very different individual taste, would be Alice Coltrane, Enya, Cocteau Twins.
If you could spend a year touring with any act who would you all agree that is?
We’ve had really great experiences touring with our friends from Danish bands – Blaue Blume, LISS, Kentaur – but of course we also dream of touring with our heroes. Arca would be one!
When is the debut LP coming out?
It’s a secret – but it will come out soon.
Into Dimenions is out now through tambourhinoceros.net
