Dear Amber
Jan Thisted Ettrup-Mikkelsen, Kenneth Juul Larsen, Morten Leidecker and Ronni Jørgensen make up the Danish Alt-Rock quartet knows as Dear Amber. They formed in 2019, released their first EP in 2021, and are the heels of releasing their second. Whereas a lot of Alt Rock bands will just bombast you with distortion and energy, there’s a thoughtfulness behind their compositions that most bands never achieve. Case in point, “Road Kill,” the first single off the EP. Here’s our review:
Track starts with a nice swell and fade in off a C#, followed up by a dry groove from an electric. When the drums and bass drop in, the chord progression moves between the 1 and the 3- and has a great feel. Love the bass line, love the groove. Really like the interplay between the melody that goes up while the bass dives beneath it - and holding it all together is the syncopated groove of that dry guitar - great set up. Admittedly, the key signature threw me for a loop - I thought it was in A but it’s easier to think about it being in D. If you’re a regular reader to this blog, you know that I don’t care for songs that I can guess where it’s going and this one kept me on my toes the whole time - very cool. Really love the major 7 chord choice for the 1, and the minor seven implied on the 3.
Great chord choice for the chorus going to the 6-. The song absolutely opens up with it! Love the pull down to the 5 and the mix is perfect. When it lands on the second verse that’s where my ears finally settled on the key of D. Second verse is a solid continuation of the building intensity and the vocals are sitting perfectly up top. With the second chorus they throw another nice little curve ball towards the back end with a move to the 4 and 3- to make make room for the story. Love how this fits perfectly in with the “log jam” of the lyrics and the implied vision. This is a great set up for the guitar solo and shows some nice complexity to their writing. With the guitar solo, they don’t go guns blazing on you - they keep it simple, again showing maturity in their writing. They could easily wail away here, but that would take away from the song - great choice.
Absolutely love the key change and breakdown after the solo - another nice surprise. Then they’re back in the groove again, but this time it’s thicker with the key change before they bring it all back to the b- for the final chorus. This last chorus is extended just like the second, setting us up for a lush ending that’s back in the vein of the solo. Really great track! Thoughtful composition with cinematic chord progressions, great tones and a rush of energy. Kudos to Tim Stenstrop for his production work on it! This would be great to see live and would fit perfectly in a sync setting for a high-intensity, high drama scene.
Scroll down to catch their socials and listen to their other tracks. “Read-end Collision” is a favorite - love the guitar lines and mix. Love the vocal energy of lyrics of “Stowaways,” and I could swear they’re using an e-bow in that opening riff. Again, great mix, composition and writing. This band has the ability to go deeper than most, and most importantly, show restraint when that’s what the song calls for. Very impressive.
Lot of luck with this new project fellas - hope you’re able to take over the larger stages in Europe soon!