In early 2020, things were looking up for School of X's Rasmus Littauer. The first single from his debut album Armlock was out, he had just played first Danish headline tour, and he was ready to hop on the plane for gigs in London and the U.S. at SXSW.
You know the rest of the story by now: School of X's debut album Armlock came out while Littauer was forced to stay in. But instead of hanging his head, Rasmus Littauer, who has a habit of isolating himself while working on his music, took off to his childhood home in the Danish countryside.
After six weeks alone and soon after the release of his debut album, Rasmus Littauer came back to Copenhagen with the songs for his sophomore album Dancing Through the Void already under his arm.
Introducing Dancing Through the Void with his lead single "Away" - a nostalgic indie pop anthem reminiscent of Local Natives or the early works of Portugal. The Man - Luttaur explores the immediate aftermath of a breakup, and the process of coming to terms with loss. In Littauer's words: "To me, this is a beautiful love song with a very melancholic twist. It's on one hand describing the love that was there, and on the other hand, the love that is gone and how hard it is to miss who used to be your best friend. Suddenly this one person is not part of your life anymore, going from being everything to nothing. It's about realizing that and dealing with it as well as you can."
Life is moving on with or without him, Littauer realized while recording "Away" in the familiarity of his childhood home:
"Everything was recorded on a hot, humid, rainy summer day in the attic in my parents' house in the countryside. When I think about this day I get this super melancholic feeling in my stomach that I usually get when I isolate myself for a period of time. It hurts but it's so beautiful. There's also something about going back to your childhood and remembering feelings and smelling smells that does that to me. It tells me that life is moving on, and it has for me too."
"Away" arrives with a moody music video in which Littauer is hanging out in an empty parking lot, playing drums and sitting in and setting fire to the abandoned shopping carts.
"I wanted to make a simple video, with subtle storytelling, without making a narrative-a story that would build on the emotions of the song. The video was made with director Stroud Rhode Pearce and I think he did exactly what he needed to do. He made the song sound better with his very cinematic yet intimate style."
