Oh No Ono

Oh No Ono are set to kick off the new decade right with the wholly immersive, phantasmagorical pop bliss of Eggs. The Danish quintet – Aske Zidore (guitar, vocals), Malthe Fischer (vocals, guitar), Nis Svoldgaard (bass, vocals), Nicolai Koch (keyboards) and Kristoffer Rom (drums) – harness an epic, chiaroscuro psychedelia, forging it into dazzling gems of otherworldly pop brilliance. The burnished tunes belie an apocalyptic lyrical bent, the combination recalling an even more tripped-out MGMT, Flaming Lips or Caribou, liberally sprinkled with elements of George Harrison’s Beatles songs, Sparks and the lofty ambition of Kate Bush. With a formidable command of maximalist melodies that seemingly pulsate in 3D and cascade in waves of decadent pleasure, Oh No Ono are set to turn 2010 a baroque shade of day-glo.

Formed in 2003 in the mediaeval Danish city of Aalborg, and now resident in Copenhagen, Oh No Ono enjoy some celebrity as national pop stars. The national (BBC-equivalent) broadcaster DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) awarded them ‘Breakthrough Of The Year’ and they were nominated for two Danish Music Awards, Best Band and Best Newcomer, while influential Danish magazine Soundvenue recently voted Eggs as the 5th best Danish album of the decade. Word of mouth from their European festival appearances over the past couple of years set the blogs alight.

Now with Eggs, their debut for The Leaf Label (on Brooklyn’s Friendly Fire in America, and Morningside and the mysterious 01-11700170 in Denmark), Oh No Ono have the rest of the world in their sights. In love with the power of pop, their subversive thrill in pushing new ideas under the radar is highly contagious.

With a terrific visual aesthetic directed by the band and artist Malene Mathiasson, featuring a series of darkly sexual paintings that would make Hieronymus Bosch and Francis Bacon blush, their multi-layered, minutely detailed artwork will doubtless prompt much analysis. Unsurprisingly, the Kubrick-esque video clip – think The Shining with a bevy of romantically adventurous nurses – for first single ‘Swim’ (directed by Adam Hashemi) hit number one on the Pitchfork video chart this last summer.