New Music: Hellas – Dances

Based in Copenhagen in Denmark, Hellas (not Greek, but comprising of Danes Peter Sabroe and Jeppe Høi Justesen) say they aim to ‘make the experimental music more accessible to an audience that normally might not explore this type of music’. When you hear Dances, you’ll agree that they’ve succeeded in that aim with considerable finesse.

Using a similar sound palette to acts like Vessels and Orbital, Dances takes minimalism’s notion of slowly changing rhythms and textures as a starting point, but entwines in that a counter-intuitive notion of complexity once you dig under the surface.

The result is a piece that would be at home in the environs of a concert hall as much as a sweaty venue, as the track exhorts the listener to take part in an increasingly intricate journey to its final, elated climax through a series of musical tableaux that switch from unnerving tranquillity to ferocious energy as the song approaches that ecstatic resolution.

You can currently stream Dances and Hellas’ back catalogue on Spotify and Soundcloud.  The duo are playing some live concerts in early June, you can find out more here.