• note: updated on 1 March with 'Det varer ikke ved' now added

We can't confess to having heard of Copenhagen band Udsyn before listening to the track 'It Won't Last' ('Det varer ikke ved' in Danish) which is out in March. It's frustrating not being able to share it - and we did something we never do, presave the track on Spotify on listening. The knowledge of this is like something burning a hole in your pocket. Ah well, it's only a fortnight away.

The 'It Won't Last' track has a poignant piano line, a very hooky melody worthy of something on a Hania Rani recording however much contained in the piano line punctuated later by guitar and bass, and works on so many levels. It isn't generic at all but while relatable to us certainly as jazz listeners it has a lot of other language fed into it that puts it more in an indie/prog domain.

Now on the splendidly entitled Blikflak label who championed early Svaneborg Kardyb - an outfit we are very keen on here we haven't been as taken by a Danish band even on the slim pickings heard so far since hearing Girls in Airports for the first time back in 2012. Note Danish jazz hero of ours Jakob Bro follows a completely different sound and can't really be compared to what's here - Udsyn aren't anything like a typical ECM band at all.

So delving into what Udsyn are about - the band name in English refers to a ''view'' in the sense of ''outlook'' - we went back and listened to some of their earlier work, copied above from 2022 released on the Gateway label and mighty fine it is too, a bit prog, a bit shoegazer, a bit electronica, a bit naive… a bit original and certainly with a jazz relatability stamped through it like a stick of seaside rock. But the new track is a step on. Band members are guitarist Viktor Ravn who is prominent in the more improvisatory type solo forays sometimes (yep, that's him all over the shapeshifting 'Cafe Viktor'), drummer Marco Ceglarek who keeps a fairly unobtrusive but pacey presence in the groove, pianist Ole Røndal Kjeldsen, bassist Johan Kjær Houver and crucially synth player Morten Heide. A pity that Udsyn aren't playing at the Sounds of Denmark showcase next month. Would be great to hear them live asap.