Introducing: Lightwave Empire – ’Pleasure And Pain’

Oh, sweet Jesus – where to begin?

Okay, so five days ago, a new song was released by this brand new band called Lightwave Empire. Two days before, Roskilde Festival revealed their poster –  and hey, guess who was on that poster?

There’s absolutely nothing special about that; but no one knows about the band, no one writes about the band, their Facebook page has 68 likes, and yet they’re playing Roskilde Festival. Who the hell are these people?

Luckily for us, DR (Danish radio) gave the song airplay on both P6 and P4, and that means that there’s information available online. As you would’ve guessed after about 40 seconds of listening to the song, Bjarke Niemann (Spleen United!) is the voice of Lightwave Empire. And what a pleasant surprise it is to hear him sing on this song. We’ve missed you, Bjarke!

Pleasure And Pain is released on Copenhagen Records and produced by David Sardy, a man who’s worked with bands like Rage Against The Machine, LCD Soundsystem, and The Rolling Stones, and the song itself is 3 minutes and 46 seconds of “feel good–cruising” music. It’s a song that you can play again and again, and a song that makes you wanna turn on your radio just to see if it’s on.

But… who’s playing alongside Bjarke Niemann?

Since that weird evening at NorthSide in 2013, where Spleen United split after suddenly leaving the stage, mad at each other and with both guitars and keyboards wrecked on stage, rumours have been going on about the band getting back together. Is there a new album coming out? Are they changing their name?

Taking a look at Lightwave Empire’s Facebook page doesn’t give you much info. The secrecy, and a gig at Roskilde with one song out and less than 100 likes, makes you wonder; could this be Spleen United starting all over?

Either way, Pleasure And Pain deserves a listen, and Ligthwave Empire deserves another follower.