Smag På Dig Selv are a self-described “three-piece acoustic techno machine” and that’s a pretty apt description. While the word “techno” might be an anathema to the average Midlands Rocks reader, if your tastes veer towards the heavy then you are bound to find a spiritual home within the band’s wonderfully eclectic sound. Hailing from Copenhagen (Freetown Christiana), Denmark, the band’s second album This Is Why We Lost finds this tenacious trio expanding the scope of their sound even further, building upon the learning curve that was their debut long player, to deliver a more focused affair with a more direct line of travel to serve up ten tracks that are all killer and no filler.
That the band are at the top of their ‘a’ game becomes immediately apparent on opening track ‘Like A Word I Never Knew’. With a beat that’ll immediately ingratiate itself into your memory bank, it’s hard not to get swept up in Smag På Dig Selv’s modus operandi. Taking the listener on a pillion ride through a nocturnal cityscape, it suggests that you hang on tight because this is going to be a wild ride. There’s something very “David Lynch” about the sound that the band create; it is as if they are peeling back the thin veneer that separates this world from the next and are offering a frightening glimpse of what lies beyond. The beats the band provide are clinical, surgical and march in perfect lockstep, yet the saxophone which floats atop is loose and organic, and much of the magic this album creates originates from that space that exists somewhere in between. It’s a neat tension of opposites, and one that will echo throughout this record, the looser moments give the band a lot of freedom and an unpredictably and a feeling that they could travel in any direction.
The great thing about Smag På Dig Selv is that they have formulated a sound all their very own and it’s hard to draw comparisons with any other artist. Aesthetically it reminds me of Bowie’s Heroes (if it had been recorded in 2026), or imagine The Prodigy after imbibing methamphetamine or Chumbawamba after reading Nietzsche. It’s a very punk approach and finds the band ripping up the rulebook to deliver songs such as ‘Fitness Bro’ which deliver unorthodox rhythms that demand repeat spins as Smag På Dig Selv tackle music head on and bend it into unusual shapes, and whilst they often have fun with music, they are certainly no joke and there’s no misunderstanding the message contained within ‘Hits For Kids Vol. 3000’. As the English language becomes the global lingua franca and continues to eat up the world, it’s heartening that Smag På Dig Selv sing in their native Danish (though not exclusively) but this is no barrier to understanding the rage within ‘Jeg Ved Ikke Hvad Jeg Siger’ and their anger seethes from every syllable.
Album number two finds Smag På Dig Selv honing their sound into a red hot laser beam and in doing so have opened up a myriad of musical avenues. Who knows down which road they’ll travel next? But on the strength of This Is Why We Lost, it’s bound to be interesting.
- This Is Why We Lost is released via Stunt Records on 17th April 2026 (available here).
- Facebook | Instagram
Track List:
- Like A Word I Never Knew
- Let’s Go!
- Interlude
- Vik’s Rawcore (Featuring Victoria Søndergaard
- Ya Tal3een (Featuring Luna Ersahin)
- This Is Why We Lost
- Fitness Bro
- Jeg Ved Ikke Hvad Jeg Siger
- Hits 4 Kids Vol. 3000
- Our Mothers Made A Punk Band (Featuring PPDS)
