After 44 years of working together, Laid Back are still not tired of making music. On the contrary, they are now ready with their new double album ‘Road to Fame’ which has been created at the usual Laid Back pace - without any stress or haste.

 

- We have often been told that we are too slow. But at a late age, we find the inspiration quite overwhelming. Most musicians probably peak when they are young, but we are just about to get there, John Guldberg says.

 

The song ‘Sitting in my Sofa’ is also released with a video in connection to the album ‘Road to Fame’. The road to fame is something that the duo has tried themselves, when they got their breakthrough with ‘Sunshine Reggae’, ‘White Horse’ and ‘Bakerman’. The immortality of these songs was proved at this year’s Roskilde Festival, where Laid Back made a guest performance with Free Nationals and proved that they can still bring people of all ages together. But the duo still wants to show that they can do more than the songs they became famous for.

 

- It’s a long, tough road to get to the finish line, and I wouldn’t say that we’re there yet. We achieved fame at a time, but we realized that the road to fame is a road that never ends. You never truly get satisfied and always want to achieve more recognition and a larger understanding of your music. We always prioritized our artistic freedom. Therefore, the album is also a tribute to that, John Guldberg explains.

 

But even though the new songs in many ways are quite typical for Laid Back, it also shows a new side of them. When the world shut down with the coronavirus in March 2020, it opened a new way of making music for Laid Back. Whereas the duo has always done everything together in their studio in Copenhagen for more than 40 years, they learned to make music separately in their home studios during the pandemic. And even though the world became darker, it did not remove the optimism and creativity of Laid Back.

 

- I feel like I have been in great shape and have not been affected by my age. I love to write new songs, and I’m not done at all. That is also why it has become a double album, John Guldberg says.

 

The album offers tracks that have the familiar sound of Laid Back, but some tracks go in a new direction. And for the first time in the band’s 44-year-old history, they have also released a song in their native language, ‘Mig’.

 

- You will see some new sides of Laid Back, but also some familiar ones. One song has come after another, and we have really been busy, John Guldberg says.

 

In June, the single ‘My Baby Blue’ was also released. It is a reverse sunshine song compared to ‘Sunshine Reggae’ and describes the feeling of sitting in the sun alone, missing the one you love. John Guldberg got the inspiration for the lyrics from his wife of 42 years, Dorte. Tim Stahl made the groove, which is inspired by Mexico, where Laid Back has performed several times. This December, Laid Back will again travel to Mexico to play several concerts.