A Good Year

$18 Adv + Fees | 21+ Copenhagen’s A Good Year announce Play, out May 22nd via Escho, and release the new single “Back of a Car” featuring Koilwood. “Back of a Car” (feat. Koilwood) Has an energetic and softly played breakbeat with Koilwood’s voice something between a whisper and a song float atop the big soundscape. Koilwood, the moniker of Alexxis Glory Princess Steadham, is a Las Vegas native now rooted on the west coast of Norway. “Back of a Car” is her first collaborative release. “Back of a Car” is a good example of A Good Year’s aesthetic, fusing the electronic and programmed with the real and played, creating a sort of magical realism of their own — Whether it’s a really good drumbeat, resonating wooden guitars or dwelling electric sounds from a sci-fi movie murmuring in the background, these contrasting sounds are shaped by the unique, intuitive process the group has built over several years. Play is an album that came about without a plan or intent to make a record. It emerged from experiments—and collaborations: moments caught, the energy of playing together, half-finished ideas, and new friends, all sent across the internet and back. The album features voices and contributions from Horse Vision, Tiffi M, Helena Gao, MØ, and first-time recordings by Koilwood and Suisse Air. For Tobias Laust Hansen (producer, former Liss drummer) and Albert Hildbrand (video artist), Play started with the intent to jam in a new way, adding a visual element. “It often starts with drums and an idea for an image or video. The visuals can direct the music, and the music can inspire the visuals.” Some close friends, some brand new acquaintances, the features and guests on the album were essential to tying the collage together. “The music became a vessel for connection, a way to reach out to people we admire, but also a way to create a social element within these sometimes introverted jams.” The duo considers Play their debut record, but it is technically their second release. In 2024, they created the film “Sofina” a “psychedelic travel movie” made as a kind of exorcism after losing their mutual best friend, Søren Holm, the singer of Liss. The project was never intended to be more than catharsis, a space to clear their minds. They released the film’s soundtrack as pure documentation, and thus, A Good Year was born. “Early on we figured out the process isn’t about ownership or expertise — it’s about the pleasure of a space with no rules, where learning from each other is the only goal”