Late Runner, the brainchild of Danish indie-folk songwriter Asger Tarpgaard has unveiled its debut album Nothing's Real Anymore via seminal indie label Crunchy Frog. The album is an introduction to a promising new artist (in the solo sense) – and a work that, in and of itself, fulfils that promise.
There’s a careful attention to detail in Late Runner’s dreamy alternative pop, drawing on a well of inspiration from the likes of The Beach Boys, Air, Beck, George Harrison and John Lennon. Tarpgaard freely mixes modern clarity with an ear for original and natural-sounding melody with '70s production vibes. It's contemplative music expressed with clear, vulnerable, and warm singing and thoughtful and introspective lyrics.
His maturity is evident in both Late Runner’s ruminative sound and lyrics; nothing sounds or feels rushed. "Late Runner is something that I've grown into and musically felt ready to write," explains vocalist, guitarist, and pianist Asger Tarpgaard. "I'm in a place now where I'm finally capable of committing to tape the music that is in my head." This collection of songs is permeated by a reflection on the past through the morose prism of the present. It conjures feelings of the diffuse sunlight of late summer or early autumn, not unlike the album’s cover art.
Also, Tarpgaard has revealed the official music video for his recently-released single "Spring" - the thematic bedrock for the album. Its verse, both in terms of words and music, feels as if it takes place outside of time and delivered in an openly fragile manner, as if sung lying down. The chorus, then, ushers us into the present as a shimmering world of synthesizers and guitars appears and stretches across the sonic horizon. The nostalgia running through the veins of the track takes on a utility of sorts – as a tool to make sense of the present.
In his native Denmark, Asger Tarpgaard experienced a meteoric rise with his first band Superheroes as a 16-year-old guitarist at the end of the '90s; a journey that saw the band topping charts over the course of three albums and five EPs, and even being hyped and recommended by none other than Beck! After, he joined the power pop trio Private with Tanja Forsberg Simonsen of ONBC and producer/singer Thomas Troelsen, and performed with Lightwave Empire with Bjarke Niemann of Spleen United.
Late Runner is Asger Tarpgaard (vocals, guitar, piano), Boi Holm (pedal steel), Andreas Murga (synths), Theis Alstrup (drums), and Joachim Kollerup (bass).
Photo by Anne Sofie Madsen & Anders Christiansen
