Mads Langer
Encyclopedia
Mads Langer is a Danish
singer and singer-songwriter
, who became internationally known for his cover
of "You're Not Alone
" by the British
band Olive
. While that song is cheerful, his own songs are frequently typified as emotional guitar
ballads, because many of them are in a minor scale
and have a melancholic
feel to them. He has explained that even when he tries to write an uplifting song, it often ends up being a sad song, even though he does consider himself to be an optimist rather than an emotional person and says about himself that he is not that sensitive but rather a very tough guy. Langer also writes more powerful songs and performs various songs on piano
. His third studio album Behold was released on 9 May 2011.
Langer writes the majority of his repertoire alone, but also collaborates with among others Marcus Winther-John, Tim Christensen
, Daniel Ahearn, Edie Kuhnle, and Justin Hawkins
. Tim Christensen has contributed to several songs with backing vocals, guitar and bass on Langer's earlier albums, and Justin Hawkins sings backing vocals on Langer's upcoming album. He has announced that he will also be working with several artists and producers from the United States
, including Ryan Tedder
. About his approach to music, Langer says: "I'm very inspired of the way Keith Jarrett
just lets his hands run out of control and create big poetic moments out of improvisation. The same can be said for other big artists like Ryan Adams
and Jeff Buckley
. I can relate to all three because they all seem to let their intuition and playful musicality take them to beautiful places. My own music originates in the same way.” Other musical influences he names are Chris Cornell
, John Mayer
, Prince
, Coldplay
, Rickie Lee Jones
, Stevie Wonder
, The Beatles
, Nick Drake
, The Band
, Radiohead
, Fionn Regan
, Bob Dylan
, Neil Young
, and Ray Lamontagne
. His voice is often compared to Thom Yorke
's and Jeff Buckley's. His band, both in the studio and live, is composed of Søren Lund on guitar, Nis Tyrrestrup op bass
, and Asger Møller on drums and percussion
. On 30 March 2011, Langer introduced Simon Luth as his sixth band member and announced he will be the opening act for his shows in May 2011. Langer plays among others guitar, piano, Mellotron
, and keyboard
.
and he listened to his father's record collection. When he was 15, he dreamt of moving to New York
and becoming a rock star. In high school, he was in a Rage Against the Machine
cover band. After finishing high school, a local audition in Skive got him in touch with a talent scout who suggested him to move to Copenhagen
and present his homemade demos there. He studied jazz piano
at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, but eventually he just started writing music It was during this time he started playing guitar. Ultimately this landed him a record deal with Copenhagen Records
. Langer debuted on 20 March 2006 in Denemark with Attention Please, an album containing potent pop rock
songs. It was scheduled to be released a year earlier, but in post-production
he connected so well with Søren Balsner of Carpark North
that Langer requested his label to scrap the recordings and start over with Balsner as producer. Despite an intense media hype and good reviews, the album had limited success in Denmark. According to Langer, his record label is to blame for raising unrealistic expectations: "As it often happens, when something is overhyped, then the media just gives you the finger afterwards when it comes out. Because of course this record isn't a masterpiece, but I think it's a very good debut for a very young guy, but that's never where we came to because they had been told that it was a masterpiece from the record label. So the minute it came out, it flopped." The song "Breaking News" became a hit. The American spotter Sat Bisla picked up on him, which enabled Langer to perform in Great Britain
and Germany
, to move to New York City
and from there often travel back and forth to Los Angeles
, where he among others played before record company
executives. This media circus life was taxing on him at such a young age, he had grown tired of other people's visions on his career, questioned his talent and got homesick, so in 2007 he quit his rock star life and returned to Skive. Equipped with only a map and his guitar, he roamed through Europe like a troubadour
, playing about 100 acoustic shows (other sources say about 60) for gas money to fuel his Volkswagen Polo
which he bought after his return. He lived off the money he collected by selling his CDs after each show. The tour helped him to find himself again and garnered him a growing fanbase. Later in 2007, he composed
and conducted the Danish performance of Hedwig and the Angry Inch
at the Nørrebros Theater
in Copenhagen starring Anders W. Berthelsen.
For his second studio album, Langer had written over 90 songs, of which he wrote "Say No More" together with Tim Christensen. He explains the cause of this large quantity as follows: "A minute doesn’t go by, not even a second, without a stream of new musical ideas or familiar phrases running through my head. My songs spring from that source." The record was eponymous because he felt this album made it clear in which direction he is headed in style and genre, whereas he felt the songs on his first album did not reflect him, but were what he thought others wanted from him. The album was released in Denmark on 9 February 2009. The critical reception was bland; critics judged that the music was more of the same and lacked a soul because it was too polished. He did score hits with "Wake Me Up in Time" and Fact-Fiction, a song he wrote in the United States in less than ten minutes and describes his confusion during that time. He started his tour as opening act for Tim Christensen and The Script before continuing his tour as main act. The songs "The River has Run Wild" and "Beauty of the Dark" have been used in the American television series The Vampire Diaries
, On En Hyldest til Sebastian ("A Tribute to Sebastian"), released in October 2009, Langer covers the song "Stille Før Storm" ("Silence before the storm"). Sebastian originally wrote this song for Lis Sørensen
, which led to her breakthrough.
Fact-Fiction - Pop or ...? and quickly reached 60,000 plays on Myspace
. This caught the attention of Sony Music
who offered him a contract, shortly after he found a manager in London in the summer of 2010, where he had moved to in November 2009. where he resides today. The record deal led to a breakthrough in Italy
, the Netherlands, Belgium
, and Germany with his cover of the song "You're Not Alone" by Olive, written by Tim Kellett
en Robin Taylor-Firth
. Langer is surprised that although he had already written 250 songs of his own, it was a cover that opened the doors to the international market. In 2010, he co-produced, sang the lead vocal, and played acoustic guitar and piano on the song "Sleeping With the Enemy" by Mika Vandborg. The lead guitar party was played by Justin Hawkins, who also mixed the song.
Meanwhile, Langer continued to work on his third album Behold, a process which started since he moved to London. For this album, he had written about 80 songs to choose from. Three songs were recorded in London with producer Martin Terefe, while other songs were recorded with Ethan Allen and Sacha Skarbek
. His website describes the album as Nordic pop melancholy lifted up by big epic melodies and words that will instantly stick in one's mind; intense, romantic and fragile. Justin Hawkins of The Darkness has provided backing vocals. About choosing songs for this album, he explains: "I definitely killed some darlings there, because it was down to, let's say that this song is very close to this one, and I would rather spread it out so you get a broader picture, because this is an international debut, so it's important for me to show me as an artist. But then I can do a very narrow release in three years' time where it's just me and a guitar, but this time I would like to show the bigger picture." The album was released on 9 May 2011 and contains the following songs:
In December 2010, Langer offered a free download of "The River has Run Wild" off this album to anyone who joined his mailing list. In March 2011, the single
"Microscope" was offered to new subscribers instead. "Microscope" entered the Italian charts at #25. It was written in around 30 minutes and came out of nothing. It was intended to be a happy song, but turned melancholic as the lyrics were written. Langer has already explained the theme of some of the other songs. "Last Flower" was written in memory of a Danish fan who committed suicide
. In her suicide note
she requested Langer to play at her funeral, where he performed this song. "Death has Fallen in Love" is about stopping to realize that someone you love could die too. The idea for the song came about while Langer' girlfriend was brushing her teeth.
A song that has not made its way onto the album is "Bowie
and Champagne", which refers to a girl he fooled around with when he was growing up, but who tried everything and ended up a drug addict
. The original lyrics were written after Langer woke up from a dream and jotted a few lines down about Aerosmith
and wine. At that time he thought they might just be the best lyrics in the world, but when he checked them over the following morning, he felt they were too cheesy but could be improved with some changes.
From 11 to 14 May, Langer will go on a mini-tour through Denmark.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
singer and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, who became internationally known for his cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "You're Not Alone
You're Not Alone (Olive song)
"You're Not Alone" is a song written by Tim Kellett and Robin Taylor-Firth and performed by Olive on the 1996 album Extra Virgin. First released as a single in 1996, it found greater success in 1997 in a remixed single version, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart...
" by the British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
band Olive
Olive (band)
Olive was a breakbeat/trip hop group from the North of England. The founding membership consisted of producer, instrumentalist and songwriter Tim Kellett, producer and keyboard programmer Robin Taylor-Firth, and singer Ruth-Ann Boyle...
. While that song is cheerful, his own songs are frequently typified as emotional guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ballads, because many of them are in a minor scale
Minor scale
A minor scale in Western music theory includes any scale that contains, in its tonic triad, at least three essential scale degrees: 1) the tonic , 2) a minor-third, or an interval of a minor third above the tonic, and 3) a perfect-fifth, or an interval of a perfect fifth above the tonic, altogether...
and have a melancholic
Melancholia
Melancholia , also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, , in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression,...
feel to them. He has explained that even when he tries to write an uplifting song, it often ends up being a sad song, even though he does consider himself to be an optimist rather than an emotional person and says about himself that he is not that sensitive but rather a very tough guy. Langer also writes more powerful songs and performs various songs on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. His third studio album Behold was released on 9 May 2011.
Langer writes the majority of his repertoire alone, but also collaborates with among others Marcus Winther-John, Tim Christensen
Tim Christensen
Tim Christensen is a Danish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass guitar, drums, Mellotron, harmonium, keyboard, piano and organ...
, Daniel Ahearn, Edie Kuhnle, and Justin Hawkins
Justin Hawkins
Justin David Hawkins is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist of The Darkness, alongside his brother, guitarist Dan Hawkins...
. Tim Christensen has contributed to several songs with backing vocals, guitar and bass on Langer's earlier albums, and Justin Hawkins sings backing vocals on Langer's upcoming album. He has announced that he will also be working with several artists and producers from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including Ryan Tedder
Ryan Tedder
Ryan Benjamin Tedder is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the pop rock band, OneRepublic, though he has an independent career as songwriter and producer for various artists such as Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson, Far East Movement, Jordin Sparks, Leona...
. About his approach to music, Langer says: "I'm very inspired of the way Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
just lets his hands run out of control and create big poetic moments out of improvisation. The same can be said for other big artists like Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams
David Ryan Adams is an American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Initially part of the group Whiskeytown, Adams left the band and released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000...
and Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
. I can relate to all three because they all seem to let their intuition and playful musicality take them to beautiful places. My own music originates in the same way.” Other musical influences he names are Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
, John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
, Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, Fionn Regan
Fionn Regan
Fionn Regan is an Irish singer-songwriter and artist from Bray, County Wicklow, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his Mercury-nominated debut album, The End of History...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, and Ray Lamontagne
Ray LaMontagne
Raymond "Ray" Charles Jack LaMontagne is a Grammy-award winning American singer-songwriter. LaMontagne has released four studio albums, Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain and God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. He was born in New Hampshire and was inspired to create music after...
. His voice is often compared to Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
's and Jeff Buckley's. His band, both in the studio and live, is composed of Søren Lund on guitar, Nis Tyrrestrup op bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and Asger Møller on drums and percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
. On 30 March 2011, Langer introduced Simon Luth as his sixth band member and announced he will be the opening act for his shows in May 2011. Langer plays among others guitar, piano, Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, and keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
.
Attention Please and Mads Langer (2005–2009)
Langer grew up in the town of Skive, Denmark. His parents are both teachers and share a love for music. At age three, he started learning the pianoPiano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and he listened to his father's record collection. When he was 15, he dreamt of moving to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and becoming a rock star. In high school, he was in a Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
cover band. After finishing high school, a local audition in Skive got him in touch with a talent scout who suggested him to move to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and present his homemade demos there. He studied jazz piano
Jazz piano
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities...
at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, but eventually he just started writing music It was during this time he started playing guitar. Ultimately this landed him a record deal with Copenhagen Records
Copenhagen Records
Copenhagen Records is a mainstream Danish independent record label formed on 5 January 2004 by former EMI Recorded Music Denmark staff members to give artists more artistic autonomy. It houses artists spread over a wide range of genres, from goth rock to rap, and from pop artists to comedians.-...
. Langer debuted on 20 March 2006 in Denemark with Attention Please, an album containing potent pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
songs. It was scheduled to be released a year earlier, but in post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
he connected so well with Søren Balsner of Carpark North
Carpark North
Carpark North is a Danish electronic rock band. The band was formed in Aarhus, Denmark on 28 July 1999 by Lau Højen , Søren Balsner and Morten Thorhauge...
that Langer requested his label to scrap the recordings and start over with Balsner as producer. Despite an intense media hype and good reviews, the album had limited success in Denmark. According to Langer, his record label is to blame for raising unrealistic expectations: "As it often happens, when something is overhyped, then the media just gives you the finger afterwards when it comes out. Because of course this record isn't a masterpiece, but I think it's a very good debut for a very young guy, but that's never where we came to because they had been told that it was a masterpiece from the record label. So the minute it came out, it flopped." The song "Breaking News" became a hit. The American spotter Sat Bisla picked up on him, which enabled Langer to perform in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, to move to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and from there often travel back and forth to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where he among others played before record company
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
executives. This media circus life was taxing on him at such a young age, he had grown tired of other people's visions on his career, questioned his talent and got homesick, so in 2007 he quit his rock star life and returned to Skive. Equipped with only a map and his guitar, he roamed through Europe like a troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
, playing about 100 acoustic shows (other sources say about 60) for gas money to fuel his Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo
The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car manufactured by Volkswagen. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, coupé and estate variants....
which he bought after his return. He lived off the money he collected by selling his CDs after each show. The tour helped him to find himself again and garnered him a growing fanbase. Later in 2007, he composed
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conducted the Danish performance of Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The text is by John Cameron Mitchell, and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 and has been performed throughout the world in hundreds...
at the Nørrebros Theater
Nørrebros Theater
The Nørrebros Teater is a theater in Copenhagen, DenmarkIt opened on the July 1886. Famous actors who have starred at the theatre before entering film include Osvald Helmuth, Buster Larsen, Poul Reichhardt and Poul Bundgaard....
in Copenhagen starring Anders W. Berthelsen.
For his second studio album, Langer had written over 90 songs, of which he wrote "Say No More" together with Tim Christensen. He explains the cause of this large quantity as follows: "A minute doesn’t go by, not even a second, without a stream of new musical ideas or familiar phrases running through my head. My songs spring from that source." The record was eponymous because he felt this album made it clear in which direction he is headed in style and genre, whereas he felt the songs on his first album did not reflect him, but were what he thought others wanted from him. The album was released in Denmark on 9 February 2009. The critical reception was bland; critics judged that the music was more of the same and lacked a soul because it was too polished. He did score hits with "Wake Me Up in Time" and Fact-Fiction, a song he wrote in the United States in less than ten minutes and describes his confusion during that time. He started his tour as opening act for Tim Christensen and The Script before continuing his tour as main act. The songs "The River has Run Wild" and "Beauty of the Dark" have been used in the American television series The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...
, On En Hyldest til Sebastian ("A Tribute to Sebastian"), released in October 2009, Langer covers the song "Stille Før Storm" ("Silence before the storm"). Sebastian originally wrote this song for Lis Sørensen
Lis Sørensen
Lis Sørensen, born 28 May 1955, is a Danish singer. In the 1970s she worked with Anne Linnet in Shit & Chanel and Anne Linnet Band. In 1983 she released her first solo album.-Albums:*Himlen ned på jorden *Lis Sørensen...
, which led to her breakthrough.
International breakthrough (2009–current)
An acoustic version of "Fact-Fiction" appeared along with several other songs off Behold on the acoustic EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Fact-Fiction - Pop or ...? and quickly reached 60,000 plays on Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. This caught the attention of Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
who offered him a contract, shortly after he found a manager in London in the summer of 2010, where he had moved to in November 2009. where he resides today. The record deal led to a breakthrough in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the Netherlands, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and Germany with his cover of the song "You're Not Alone" by Olive, written by Tim Kellett
Tim Kellett
Tim Kellett is an English musician, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:Kellett has worked in the British music industry for the past twenty five years...
en Robin Taylor-Firth
Robin Taylor-Firth
Robin Taylor-Firth is a British musician and label owner, notable for performance, songwriting and production on various projects including Nightmares on Wax, Olive, Backyard Dog, and BudNubac....
. Langer is surprised that although he had already written 250 songs of his own, it was a cover that opened the doors to the international market. In 2010, he co-produced, sang the lead vocal, and played acoustic guitar and piano on the song "Sleeping With the Enemy" by Mika Vandborg. The lead guitar party was played by Justin Hawkins, who also mixed the song.
Meanwhile, Langer continued to work on his third album Behold, a process which started since he moved to London. For this album, he had written about 80 songs to choose from. Three songs were recorded in London with producer Martin Terefe, while other songs were recorded with Ethan Allen and Sacha Skarbek
Sacha Skarbek
-Early life:Sacha Skarbek showed early talent as a musician, winning many piano competitions from the age of seven. Awarded music scholarships to Northbourne Park and King's School Canterbury, Sacha was taught by the distinguished pianist Ronald Smith and played French horn, clarinet and percussion...
. His website describes the album as Nordic pop melancholy lifted up by big epic melodies and words that will instantly stick in one's mind; intense, romantic and fragile. Justin Hawkins of The Darkness has provided backing vocals. About choosing songs for this album, he explains: "I definitely killed some darlings there, because it was down to, let's say that this song is very close to this one, and I would rather spread it out so you get a broader picture, because this is an international debut, so it's important for me to show me as an artist. But then I can do a very narrow release in three years' time where it's just me and a guitar, but this time I would like to show the bigger picture." The album was released on 9 May 2011 and contains the following songs:
In December 2010, Langer offered a free download of "The River has Run Wild" off this album to anyone who joined his mailing list. In March 2011, the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Microscope" was offered to new subscribers instead. "Microscope" entered the Italian charts at #25. It was written in around 30 minutes and came out of nothing. It was intended to be a happy song, but turned melancholic as the lyrics were written. Langer has already explained the theme of some of the other songs. "Last Flower" was written in memory of a Danish fan who committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. In her suicide note
Suicide note
A suicide note or death note is a message that states the author has died by suicide, and left to be discovered and read in anticipation of suicide....
she requested Langer to play at her funeral, where he performed this song. "Death has Fallen in Love" is about stopping to realize that someone you love could die too. The idea for the song came about while Langer' girlfriend was brushing her teeth.
A song that has not made its way onto the album is "Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and Champagne", which refers to a girl he fooled around with when he was growing up, but who tried everything and ended up a drug addict
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
. The original lyrics were written after Langer woke up from a dream and jotted a few lines down about Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
and wine. At that time he thought they might just be the best lyrics in the world, but when he checked them over the following morning, he felt they were too cheesy but could be improved with some changes.
From 11 to 14 May, Langer will go on a mini-tour through Denmark.
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN |
|||||||
| Attention Please |
|
— | |||||
| Mads Langer |
|
12 |
|
||||
| Behold |
Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
2 | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||
Live albums and EPs
- Fact-Fiction. Pop - or ??? (EP, 2008), Copenhagen Records
- Amstrdam EP (EP, 2011), Sony Music
Singles
- "Poem With No Rhyme" (2006)
- "Wake Me Up in Time" (2009)
- "Fact-Fiction" (2009)
- "Too Close" (with Mike Sheridan) (2009)
- "You're Not Alone" (2009)
- "Microscope" (2011)
- "Riding Elevators" (2011)