Future War Bride – Majahua (Future War Bride)

If, like me, you frequently find yourself wondering “What would Temples sound like if they came from Denmark instead of Northampton?” then wonder no longer, for Danish pop-psychedelia combo Future War Bride have the answer, with this self-released debut album chock full of groovy swingin’ Copenhagen psych nuggets.

“This is the future, the future my friend! This is the sixties, the sixties my friend!” sings Mikkel Bostrom (who may, or may not, be related to Allo Allo star Arthur ‘Good Moaning’ Bostrom) somewhat tellingly on the exquisite time capsule that is ‘Legs in Miniskirts’, a song that flirts with Austin Powers Electric Pussycat Swingers’ Club ridiculousness before a sublime chorus and huuuuuge Hammond riff pull it back to just this side of parody. Beatles pastiche ‘In Step’ may be more Jeff Lynne than Fab Four but, like the album as a whole, its puppy-dog innocence wins you over, even if (like me) you find the concept of a Danish ELO unnecessary at best. And ‘Mercury’ affectingly relocates Pet Sounds from the beaches of California to the cooler climes of Northern Europe.

But lest you think FWB are unrepentant nostalgists, there’s a lot more to Majahua than mere 60s revisionism. Recent single ‘Gloves Off’ mixes slacker call to arms (“Just go where you’re headed, just go where you’re headed/The occasional nightcap…”) with ferocious electro acid rock and a woozy, regretful chorus; ‘Thin Air’ is thoroughly contemporary, unforgettably catchy synth-psychedelia; and the truly beautiful ‘Once I Was a Bird’ is classic mournful Scandi-electropop with a trippy sheen.

FWB don’t always pull it off, with the unremarkable folk-stomp of ‘Apple Tree’ and inconsequential closer ‘Cabernet & Orange Tea’ failing to transcend their rather obvious influences. But Majahua is, overall, absolutely enormous fun and a remarkably assured, fully-formed debut.

Majahua will be released independently on June 8th.