“The Swan of Eileen Lake” is built around piano and stacked vocal harmonies, and from the first few seconds it feels like the kind of track that was written slowly, carefully, with a lot of changes along the way. Thomas Charlie Pedersen has said it started as something else entirely and shifted direction during the writing process, and you can actually feel that in the song. There’s a tension running through it that keeps it from ever feeling too neat or resolved.

The subject matter is genuinely interesting too. A young woman stepping into the world full of energy and promise, carrying joy and anxiety in equal measure, and inevitably leaving a little damage behind. It’s not a cruel portrait at all. It’s honest, and that honesty is what gives the track its weight.

Sara Andreasen’s vocals add something the song really needed. The harmonies are already stacked and full, but her presence brings a warmth that balances the more melancholy undertones. The drums and bass do their job without drawing attention to themselves, which is exactly right for a song like this.

Recorded at Studio Möllan in Malmö and mixed by Søren Vestergaard at the Shelter, the production is clean without being cold. Emil Isaksson and Daniel Pedersen found the right balance.

You can take a listen here.