Biography
Casper Clausen has spent more than twenty years steering the Danish ensemble Efterklang through an inventive body of reflective work that stretches from glitch-laden folktronica to sweeping orchestral arrangements inspired by Baroque forms. His solo recordings, by contrast, favor buoyant electronic textures that feel more open-ended and spontaneous. That approach surfaces clearly on his first proper solo album, Better Way, issued in January 2021 and captured in Lisbon with production input from Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3.
Clausen grew up on the Danish island of Als in the Baltic Sea alongside childhood companions Mads Brauer and Rasmus Stolberg, the same pair who would later form Efterklang with him. The three had already performed together in various groups during their teenage years, yet it was only after relocating to Copenhagen that they established Efterklang in 2000, adopting an expanded live configuration. Their 2007 album Parades, shaped by mixer Darren Allison, drew wider attention, while the accompanying EP Under Giant Trees reached the top of the domestic charts. Although Clausen later settled in Berlin, he remained central to the band’s activities once they signed with 4AD, whose resources supported releases such as 2010’s Magic Chairs, 2012’s Piramida, and the 2019 Danish-language collection Altid Sammen. During the same period they issued two rhythm-focused projects, 2016’s ii and 2017’s 1982, under the Liima name in tandem with percussionist Tatu Rönkkö.
Around that time Clausen began testing solo ideas under the Captain Casablanca alias. A drone-oriented, elegiac collaboration with cellist Gaspar Claus surfaced in November 2016 as Claus & Clausen and appeared under his own name. The sessions had actually taken place two years earlier during what was meant to be a month-long stay in Lisbon. By the album’s release Clausen had relocated there permanently, befriending modular-synth player André Gonçalves and visual artist Rui Suares Costa. Together they built a studio in Almada overlooking the River Tejo and regularly participated in the intimate events he organized. Late 2019 brought a three-track live recording with Claus made at St-Merry in Paris, and the next summer he issued the loop-driven R&B cut “Flyder” alongside Swedish artist sir Was.
The late-2020 singles “Used to Think” and “Ocean Wave” paved the way for Better Way, which arrived on City Slang in early 2021. Saturated with Krautrock echoes and built on an entirely fresh sonic palette, the record illustrated the liberty Clausen found working beyond the collective frameworks of Efterklang and Liima. That same March he contributed the Efterklang track “Postal” and appeared on the Rone & Friends compilation with Canadian singer-songwriter Mélissa Laveaux.
Clausen grew up on the Danish island of Als in the Baltic Sea alongside childhood companions Mads Brauer and Rasmus Stolberg, the same pair who would later form Efterklang with him. The three had already performed together in various groups during their teenage years, yet it was only after relocating to Copenhagen that they established Efterklang in 2000, adopting an expanded live configuration. Their 2007 album Parades, shaped by mixer Darren Allison, drew wider attention, while the accompanying EP Under Giant Trees reached the top of the domestic charts. Although Clausen later settled in Berlin, he remained central to the band’s activities once they signed with 4AD, whose resources supported releases such as 2010’s Magic Chairs, 2012’s Piramida, and the 2019 Danish-language collection Altid Sammen. During the same period they issued two rhythm-focused projects, 2016’s ii and 2017’s 1982, under the Liima name in tandem with percussionist Tatu Rönkkö.
Around that time Clausen began testing solo ideas under the Captain Casablanca alias. A drone-oriented, elegiac collaboration with cellist Gaspar Claus surfaced in November 2016 as Claus & Clausen and appeared under his own name. The sessions had actually taken place two years earlier during what was meant to be a month-long stay in Lisbon. By the album’s release Clausen had relocated there permanently, befriending modular-synth player André Gonçalves and visual artist Rui Suares Costa. Together they built a studio in Almada overlooking the River Tejo and regularly participated in the intimate events he organized. Late 2019 brought a three-track live recording with Claus made at St-Merry in Paris, and the next summer he issued the loop-driven R&B cut “Flyder” alongside Swedish artist sir Was.
The late-2020 singles “Used to Think” and “Ocean Wave” paved the way for Better Way, which arrived on City Slang in early 2021. Saturated with Krautrock echoes and built on an entirely fresh sonic palette, the record illustrated the liberty Clausen found working beyond the collective frameworks of Efterklang and Liima. That same March he contributed the Efterklang track “Postal” and appeared on the Rone & Friends compilation with Canadian singer-songwriter Mélissa Laveaux.
Albums
Singles
