In his first two singles, “Tomorrow Never Comes” and the viral hit “All My Love,” singer/songwriter Morten Nygaard focused more on cultivating an identity for the individual tracks than he did himself, but this just can’t be said for his latest release, the all-new “Trespassing.” Where “Trespassing” raises the bar for this player’s output is in how it marries his words with their meaningful melodies, alluding to a deeper connection between artist and medium than we would have been able to detect otherwise.
Although this is indeed as conservatively fashioned as its two predecessors were in terms of its instrumental layout, this is not a single that I would describe as taking influence from the minimalism movement, especially as it exists in the western world. On the contrary, what Nygaard is issuing here is the most clean-cut, direct declaration of self that he could muster inside of a recording studio, and while I already liked the style he was mastering before us in his first two songs, this is definitely the more complete look among the three releases. His poetic depth is the star of this show, and we’ve got the privilege of possessing front-row tickets.
This is a rather relaxed rhythm given the simplicity but tightly-wound components of the hook, but it doesn’t make it feel like the lyrics are dragging against the grain of the backing band. Nygaard’s direction of the groove is quite dominant and never reliant on some sort of synthetic elements in the big picture, which hasn’t been true of the other big-name releases I’ve been hearing out of his scene in the past year.
There’s a pressure on the backend of the mix that only gets stronger as we progress towards the latter half of the song, but it’s not powerful enough to get anything under the verses, especially when we reach the climactic chorus. This is a lead vocalist who has yet to really push himself as hard as I think he potentially could, but he doesn’t necessarily need to for this piece, being that it’s constructed around a fragile center as opposed to something more boisterous and dynamic.
If this is a fair depiction of who Morten Nygaard is as a singer/songwriter then I think there’s going to be a consensus opinion that he hasn’t been getting the love from the press and critics that he’s rightfully entitled to. He sends the harmony in this single to heaven, and while he doesn’t have a virtuosic backdrop to work against, he still manages to turn the fever pitch of “Trespassing” into a transcendent moment that feels bigger than the studio it was recorded in.
He’s got a sizeable following, but with a radio-ready release as well-appointed as “Trespassing” is, I don’t know that it would be an overestimate to say that he’s looking at a lot more international attention from fans, aficionados, and anyone who has a taste for hearty melodic pop in 2022. He’s got my vote, and I can’t imagine I’m the only listener who’d say so.
Chadwick Easton