Photo by Nikolaj Møller
+ SONGS PEOPLE TOGETHER ALBUM OUT OCTOBER 21
WITH IAN ISIAH, KOOL KEITH, MOSES BOYD + MORE
Following his gorgeous collaborative single with Ian Isiah, “Fiction,” and his most recent “Seconds ft. Coco O.,” internationally-acclaimed Danish pianist and producer, August Rosenbaum, lends his own velvety voice to a soulful, cinematic, melodic track, “Swim On.” Listen/watch “Swim On” HERE + pre-order/save the new album HERE.
Sparse where it needs to be, “Swim On” leaves space for the watery instrumentation leaving you fully soaked. Here August takes his incredible musical talent to paint a sonic portrait that sucks you right in from the beginning – like getting stuck in a rip current. Its steady bass line hooks you under, much like love itself, his voice floating atop; like glimmers of sunlight peaking through the rippling surface, water illuminating up above.
Of his latest composition, August shares, “Swim On’ is a special track on the album for me because I used my own vocals in a song for the first time. I really wanted to learn a new instrument, new techniques, new colours on my palette, coming from a culture of instrumental music. Something to take me out of my comfort zone, after having established an almost too close relationship to the piano; I wanted to sidestep that for a bit and explore something new, cross a border, jump off a cliff.”
He continues, “Swim On is a love song, a positive reaffirming one, of trust in a relationship, about offering someone your all no matter what comes. I’m really drawn to water, movies about water, swimming in deep water, there’s something very life about that. And I love water metaphors, Water as symbols for stages of life always hits me. It’s something unknown, a force of nature uncontrollable by culture. So I tried to mesh that into the song and the theme of trust between two people.”
Born into a family of artists, August takes after his grandfather who was the renowned Danish pianist Simon Rosenbaum. He began playing piano as a small child and stretching the bounds of his classical upbringing from the start, as the only one at elementary school recitals who would perform Thelonious Monk, Wu-Tang Clan and Erik Satie. By age 20, August had recorded his first jazz album in New York City using musicians from the influential label ECM Records.
At 34 years old, August’s acclaimed career as a multifaceted artist melds the cinematic and classic with an edge of contemporary coolness. His talents as a writer range from crafting timeless pop songs including collaborating and recording with some of today’s most exciting and established musicians, Kendrick Lamar, Dijon, Dev Hynes, Kindness, and more; to composing numerous scores for film, TV and art installations, and recently co-wrote a ballet score with Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon for the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He also regularly collaborates with leading visual artist Jesper Just on exhibitions for a.o. Palais De Tokyo and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Today, finding his own voice is a natural shift, having already recorded five instrumental albums, two of which gained Danish National Music Awards, and running his own label Hiatus to release improvised and experimental music. Most recently, he conceived and created an exhibition at Copenhagen Contemporary titled Celeste, that combined sculpture, video, fragrance, and performance alongside his vivid music. Now Songs People Together, with gorgeous art by Dan Hougland (of Excepter), marks a step into this new realm, as August steps away from the solo piano and into deeper collaborations.
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