Alcoholic Faith Mission – Closer To Dallas [SXSW Special] // Song Of The Day #216

Given that today is the first ‘proper’ day of SXSW, we thought we would start having a dig through some of the bands that are going to be showcasing during the course of the week.

Alcoholic Faith Mission may well boast the best name on any bill you’re likely to see during the festival. The Danish-via-Brooklyn sextet have been releasing beautiful, subtly innovative records for four years now. Their music is taut yet comforting, rhythmically strange yet always inviting – and it seems to be entirely at ease with its own contradictions.

‘Closer To Dallas’ is about as aptly-named a song for a SXSW round-up as you could hope to find – and it also serves as a perfect introduction to this lovely band. The melancholic vocal and the mini-orchestral arrangement quickly identify this as the work of a Scandinavian outfit. But, at the same time, it has a instant familiarity that suggests it could just as easily have been made in your hometown.