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Interview
International Pop Underground: On Her Second LP, Denmark s Erika de Casier Embraces Her Sensational Side
When Danish producer/songwriter Erika de Casier set out making her second album the follow-up to her beloved 2019 debut,
Essentials she quickly identified a sentiment uniting the songs. I saw in the process: these songs are very sensational, they re very
extra , the 31-year-old recounts, in a conversation with Anthony Carew on The International Pop Underground.
And, so, working on the songs whilst deep in lockdown in Copenhagen, de Casier just called the record
Sensational. Tracks like
Drama or
Polite, I m being an extroverted version of myself, which I think is sensational, she says. It s almost theatre for me, but it s still me, it s still a side of me. And I wanted to show that side.
âDramaâ
On âDrama,â Erika de Casier whispers her regrets. This is par for the course for the Portuguese-born, Copenhagen-based singer-songwriter. Since she first appeared with 2019âs
Essentials, de Casier has made hushed music about big feelings. A former member of the duo Saint Cava, sheâs loosely affiliated with Aarhusâ Regelbau collective, but where that crew specializes in â90s-flavored house, de Casier takes her inspiration from millennial R&B acts like Brandy and SWV. On âDrama,â she takes a cue from Craig David, who perfected the fusion of shuffling breakbeats and rippling guitar melodies. De Casier and co-producer Natal Zaks (aka Regelbauâs DJ Central) start with a clean-toned guitar riff and powder-dry woodblock, then deck out the stereo fieldâadding splash cymbal, triangle, syn-fluteâuntil it shimmers like Christmas tinsel. Itâs an unabashedly elegant sound that highlights the comparative fragility of