Analysis and fixed processes have supplanted mystery. Romanticism is in short supply. Luckily, there is still music being released that pushes back.Trentemoller’s new album Memoria, out tomorrow (2/11) via his own label In My Room, seems to exist at the confluence of inspiration, coincidence, and maybe even a little bit of the supernatural. Ahead of the release, he’s sharing the video for “Like A Daydream,” a hazy, black and white style vision that showcases longtime collaborator Lisbet Fritze’s earnestly delivered vocals, buoyed up by a carillon guitar  tethered to a relaxed drum shuffle and bass chord progression.

 
Classically speaking, memoria (memory) is one of the five canons of rhetoric, along with discovery, arrangement, eloquence, and recitation. It’s how stories are told, and memoria is the central pillar. Trentemøller’s songs never deliver the completed narrative, that’s for the listener to construct, but in every track exists these five seeds, primed for germination.

Trentemøller’s previous album, Obverse, was an exercise in what could be done if the prospect of performing the signs onstage wasn’t a factor. It opened up some doors, and signaled a new chapter. Memoria, even considering its resplendence, almost feels like it demands to be presented live as well.

Photo Courtesy: Karen Rosetzsky