Mojo - The Music Magazine

The scale of Aarhus's 15th century cathedral – the Domkirke – is breathtaking. Its nave is the longest in Denmark, its tower the second tallest. Inside, the space is serene, with whitewashed walls sparingly decorated with frescos of biblical scenes. Until this year's SPOT Festival the Domkirke had never allowed secular music in. Our Broken Garden – nom de guerre of Anna Brøndsted (pictured) – have become pioneers. Opening SPOT, Brøndsted sets a contemplative mood that seemed hard to follow.

SPOT's annual mission is showcasing the music of Denmark, and bringing the outside world to see it in this pretty Jutland city. The festival attracts thousands of locals, but there's also a significant minority of non-Danes here on the lookout for what's up-and-coming – MOJO included.

Brøndsted has chosen to use the cathedral space organically. The musicians could have been together at one end of an aisle. Instead – acknowledging the difficulty of the Domkirke's seven-second sonic delay – they're ranged around the cathedral on platforms. Brøndsted is at the altar end, with her piano. Guitarist Søren Bigum prowls the aisle. A cellist and viola player are halfway down the main aisle, high above the pews. A harpist is further along, towards the main entrance.

They essay their recent Bella Union album, Golden Sea, albeit jiggled around and with a new overture and interlude by Swedish composer Gustaf Ljunggren. Golden Sea tells of the search for love across a wild landscape that ends in death and a resigned communion with the earth: the dust we all become. So, no jokes, then – just measured, atmospheric and devotional music.

It's a finely wrought gauntlet thrown in front of every other group at SPOT, but quirky electro-popper Nanna Øland Fabricius – aka Oh Land – picks it up. She's been attracting attention in the States and it's easy to see why after this tune-filled, dynamic show. Ditto Treefight For Sunlight, also signed to Bella Union in the UK. Their sunny, harmony-driven psychedelic pop enthralls the 1000-plus crowd at SPOT's outdoor tent, even though the chill wind is charged with rain – apt conditions for their faithful version of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights.

Of the less-well-known bands, Helsinki Poetry hit the spot with a hybrid of shoegazing and '80s-style electropop somewhere between Tears For Fears and My Bloody Valentine. Figurines have been around for a while, but their earlier Neil Young leanings have been assimilated into something closer to a Teenage Fanclub nodding Arctic Monkeys-wards. More peculiar are Sleep Party People, a rave-rooted outfit with face masks and rabbit ears whose drifting melodies are capped with keening, wordless vocals. It's more compelling than it sounds.

But SPOT's most hotly-tipped act are Just A Number 05272011, making their live debut at the smaller Voxhall. The buzz is unavoidable, yet it's hard to understand as the recorded evidence suggests nothing greater than a me-too Fever Ray. Live, they make slightly more sense, as they settle into a mesmeric, post-techno groove. Still, time out for a rethink would be well spent.

SPOT provides a showcase for home-grown versions of what's happening elsewhere (Lucy Love is Denmark's top banana in grime; Nabiha is a Nordic Duffy/Amy Winehouse simulacrum) and a platform for other Nordic nationals, including standout Norwegians Jenny Hval and Harry's Gym. Two Finnish bands seduced: K-X-P's hard-hitting mix of Krautrock insistence, Glitter Band beats and declamatory vocals; and Siinai – almost totally instrumental but sinuously, terrifically melodic.

But it's a local act that leave us thrumming with excitement. Denmark's Hymns From Nineveh, rocking the Muskihuset's main concert hall, demonstrate a typically Danish communion with the audience. Mainman Jonas Petersen is a Christian, but celebrates themes anyone can identify with. He has already entered the Danish Top 10, and based on this he could reach out to any audience. In the best tradition of SPOT, inhibitions as well as borders were broken down.

Kieron Tyler

Photograph by Tue Juelsbo