MOVEMENTS I
Movements I. TUTL Records, SHD267
MOVEMENTS I is the eighth album by Afenginn - a cinematic, rhythm-driven work in six parts.
The album is part of a trilogy unfolding over three years.
The first volume: Movements I, was released on September 19th, 2025.
After six years without a new album, Afenginn returns with Movements I, a work of large-scale musical architecture and the first chapter of a trilogy totalling 120 minutes. The album opens a new phase in the ensemble’s evolution: long-form musical worlds shaped by shifting pulses, layered textures and a physical ensemble energy. It is music designed for movement, extended flow and deeply embodied listening.
Since the release of Klingra in 2019, created in collaboration with Danish String Quartet and Teitur, Afenginn has pursued a series of interdisciplinary and live-driven projects. Movements I marks a return to a fully composed studio work, built with meticulous structural detail yet delivered with the raw momentum of a group shaped by folk-touched melodicism, minimalism and a punk-like drive, paired with electronically enhanced timbres.
The album unfolds in continuous arcs. Strings, clarinet, mandolin, piano and double bass interlace with synthesizers, electric guitar, electronic textures, Ewe drums and a large brass section. Melodies draw on both Nordic clarity and modal Eastern colours, while patterns shift and gather energy over long spans. Electronic processing extends the acoustic instruments into a broader sonic landscape. The result is music that moves from fragile detail to sweeping physical energy. It insists on being felt in both body and mind.
“I move a lot on stage but not so much on a dance floor,” says composer and bandleader Kim Rafael Nyberg. “Growing up in Finland in the 80s, you only danced if you were fairly drunk, and some of that still sits in my body. With the Movements trilogy, I wanted to write music I would actually want to move to, unchoreographed and unselfconscious.”
This impulse sparked a new rhythmic language with long-form grooves, evolving patterns and a structure with clear symphonic ambition.
Since 2002, Afenginn has performed more than 800 concerts across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Their live shows are known for their wide dynamic range, from fragile, detailed passages to full-bodied ensemble climaxes. The group has appeared at major festivals including Roskilde and WOMEX and has received numerous accolades, among them eight Danish Music Awards and a Carl Prize.
With Movements I, the group continues its exploration of music as physical experience. The album brings together the nuance and precision of contemporary composition with the physical drive of a great rock song, a combination that feels both unexpected and deeply intoxicating.
The album is available digitally and on vinyl and CD through TUTL Records.
Line up:
Rasmus Krøyer: clarinet, bass clarinet
Niels Skovmand: violin
Kim Rafael Nyberg: piano, synths, mandolin, vocals
Dánjal á Neystabø: piano, vocals
Erik Olevik: bass, double bass
Ulrik Brohuus: drums, percussion
Heðin Ziska Davidsen: guitar, synths, electronics, vocals
Anders Hvidberg-Hansen: Ewe drums, percussion
Andreas Tykjær Restorff: cello
Johan Hentze: trumpet, flugelhorn
Jakob Johansen: flugelhorn, trombone, tuba
SINGLES
