New single from Cancer
Danish duo Cancer are releasing their new single “Die One More Time” from the forthcoming debut album Totem due for release on Jan 27, 2017 via your's truly. Pre-order the vinyl here (signed option available).
Cancer are a duo consisting of Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild and Kristian Finne Kristensen. Nikolaj is also known as the lead singer of electronic band When Saints Go Machine and Kristian from his americana-inspired solo-career as Chorus Grant.
Since releasing their first EP Cancer have been performing unreleased material live. “Die One More Time” has left audience speechless every single time it’s been performed.
Listen to "Die One More Time" here.
Cancer’s forthcoming debut album (entitled Totem) follows the successful 2014-EP Ragazzi that quickly sold out its 500-unit vinyl run and gained the band a substantial fan-base in their home country Denmark while reaching key media internationally including a healthy Hypem popular chart placement, spot plays at BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music, the playlists at Amazing Radio and DR P6 Beat as well as online features from The Fader, DIY, Noisey, Pigeons & Planes and many more.
“Die One More Time” is a song about the sorrow that comes with losing loved ones and how the experience stays with you forever. The chorus’ pivotal line is central to the song: “Each time I wake up/I die one more time. This is the largest abandoned factory in the world”.
As Nikolaj intensifies the line on every repetition the desperation and vulnerability inherent in the song will leave listeners moved and equally vulnerable. The enclosing guitars of Kristian Finne Kristensen, alongside the sublime bass lines and the tasteful drums emphasizes the fragility of “Die One More Time” in a brilliant way. On these new recordings Cancer have evoked a very special sonic space that brings some elements as close as possible while leaving others in the horizon - an open space that appear both minimalistic and extremely organic.
Kristian Finne Kristensen about Totem:
“We’ve worked on perfecting the new songs since we played the majority of them on Roskilde Festival 2014. Since then many of them have taken on new form - but the album version of “Die One More Time” appears as the original first draft did”.
Nikolaj continues:
“It feels lovely to release one of the songs we’ve worked on the most both in the rehearsal space and afterwards in the mix proces with Nis Bysted. We’d liked to finish the album sooner but sometimes life wants something else to happen than I do...”
The name Cancer comes from personal experience: “It comes from the disease, of course,” says Nikolaj. “It’s the greatest tragedy of my life, losing one of my parents to cancer.” As Nikolaj was going through this traumatic event he met Kristian and the two started making music. He continues: “I started thinking about this vacuum that occurs when someone is ill, or someone dies, where everyone is able to speak and people are so open. There’s also a lot of beauty in all of this”. Kristian continues: “Our songs are not specifically about dark matters concerning the disease, but also the light and the love and the beauty of relationships between people. Friends, family...all of this!”
