By Thomas La Cour, Music Journalist
Martin & The New Songrise’s Clouds & Silver Linings is a collection of powerful songs that come together as a small, poetic film.
Martin Høybye is an excellent storyteller. He demonstrated that clearly ten years ago, when he released the novel and album For the World, allowing songs and music to accompany the story.
A Film Made of Songs
His ability to tell a story through multiple songs remains very much intact on his latest project, Clouds & Silver Linings. We follow a man struggling with his relationship and his sense of self while his children are preparing to leave the nest. What is the meaning of it all when the project of life seems to be approaching some kind of conclusion? When his daughter is heading to Berlin because she must not remain tied to the town where she grew up, as her mother did. Doubt can strike any of us, and perhaps the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence. The strengths and weaknesses of a relationship, the longings of childhood, forgiveness, the doubts and struggles of life.
That may sound terribly banal in my admittedly unfair summary, but it is anything but. The 12 songs are vivid portraits of mood that you can immerse yourself in for a while. I listened to the album with half an ear during my first several spins while driving. It is an excellent road-trip record, with memorable choruses that could easily have been sung by one of the big names from over there. When I took more time to listen to the lyrics, the film began.
A kind of Revival
Martin Høybye calls his new project “Martin & The New Songrise.” It almost sounds like a revival. At the very least, it creates certain expectations, and fortunately the album delivers on them. From what I understand, there are also more albums in the works.
The New Songrise is a close musical partnership featuring Peter Dombernowsky on drums, Dennis Ahlgren on bass and guitars, and Jeppe Juul Jepsen on organ and other keyboards. Jan Thomsen plays additional guitar on “Forgiveness” and is one of the architects behind the Songrise concept. Other guest musicians also appear along the way—including Ivan Pedersen, whose instantly recognizable backing vocals can be heard on “Fades to Black” (which could easily have been a radio hit for Ivan’s own band, Backseat).
The small trio behind Martin Høybye’s voice and guitar creates a space filled with warmth, richness, and authenticity. There was a time when it was fairly easy to tell when a Danish artist was attempting country, Americana, folk, or blues, but this album sounds as if it was made by an American or Canadian artist.
Cohesive, Yet With Plenty of Range
While Martin Høybye sings as though you’d think he had emigrated from the States, his vocal style is also quite ”un-Danish”, because he sings as if something important is at stake in every word. From a roar to falsetto. “Chasing Butterflies” is deeply moving in all its stark simplicity.
There is plenty of musical range across the album, while it remains remarkably cohesive at the same time. “Forgiveness” carries hints of Billy Preston, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr. “De-Bluesify Me” could easily have been written by John Fogerty, while “Talking to God” is almost Dylan-like, and in mood comes close to “Man in the Long Black Coat” from Daniel Lanois’ well-known production.
Martin & The New Songrise: Clouds & Silver Linings — Songcrafter Press on vinyl — also available on streaming services: martinandthenewsongrise.lnk.to/cloudsandsilverlinings
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Sept 22, 2026
Org. DK publication: https://tholacour.blogspot.com/2026/09/skyer-og-sma-solstraler.html