Imitating Aeroplanes is the new project of Tord Øverland Knudsen (The Wombats) and Marius Drogsås Hagen (Team Me) – a collective output tallying five albums, multi-million sales and streams, repeat Billboard charts, international play-listing and widespread acclaim, including a Norwegian Grammy Award and multiple NME / MTV Award nominations.
On paper, it’s an impressive partnership, but this is one project more destined than designed. Marius and Tord have been playing and writing music together since childhood, recording their first demos to cassette circa ‘96. The pair grew up in small Norwegian town Elverum before embarking respective international careers, with their latest planetary pursuit landing in Tokyo – the heartland of forthcoming album ‘Planet Language’, released September 22 via Propeller Recordings.
The album blends elements of pop, prog, funk and psychedelia, with a no holds barred approach to song structure and production. “The whole idea of this album was to do things we haven’t done before, and things that we couldn’t do in our existing projects,” Tord says. “It feels like one hell of a journey, both lyrically and musically,” Marius adds. “It’s all about travelling in different ways – whether in music or in life – and somehow finding bits of home wherever you are,” he says, referencing a Japanese tour in which the pair were joined by video game composer and musician Kenji Ito (a.k.a. Itoken).
Itoken’s influence was great, contributing additional production and keyboard parts on instrumental prelude ’Roppongi Hills’, and unintentionally coining the album’s title whilst explaining his wife’s “made-up” language. “He said it so casually,” Tord recalls, “it’s not Japanese, it’s some sort of planet language’. It just felt incredibly profound.”
On paper, it’s an impressive partnership, but this is one project more destined than designed. Marius and Tord have been playing and writing music together since childhood, recording their first demos to cassette circa ‘96. The pair grew up in small Norwegian town Elverum before embarking respective international careers, with their latest planetary pursuit landing in Tokyo – the heartland of forthcoming album ‘Planet Language’, released September 22 via Propeller Recordings.
The album blends elements of pop, prog, funk and psychedelia, with a no holds barred approach to song structure and production. “The whole idea of this album was to do things we haven’t done before, and things that we couldn’t do in our existing projects,” Tord says. “It feels like one hell of a journey, both lyrically and musically,” Marius adds. “It’s all about travelling in different ways – whether in music or in life – and somehow finding bits of home wherever you are,” he says, referencing a Japanese tour in which the pair were joined by video game composer and musician Kenji Ito (a.k.a. Itoken).
Itoken’s influence was great, contributing additional production and keyboard parts on instrumental prelude ’Roppongi Hills’, and unintentionally coining the album’s title whilst explaining his wife’s “made-up” language. “He said it so casually,” Tord recalls, “it’s not Japanese, it’s some sort of planet language’. It just felt incredibly profound.”
TRACK LISTING
Tracklist CD:
1. Roppongi Hills
2. Stomping Ground
3. Diamond Dust
4. Planet Language
5. Hourglass
6. H.I.T.S.
7. Billy Boel
8. Sakebad I Kanazawa
Tracklisting LP:
A1: Roppongi Hills
A2: Stomping Ground
A3: Diamond Dust
A4: Planet Language
A5: Hourglass
B1: H.I.T.S.
B2: Billy Boel
B3: Sakebad I Kanazawa