(4 / 5)
Rexen, aka Michael Rexen the 41-year-old Denmark singer and songwriter with roots in the United Arab Emirates, recorded this his first studio album at Peter Gabriel’s famed Real World studios in the UK, produced by film and TV composer, songwriter and musician Silas Tinglef; a multi-instrumentalist on this album.
Silas produced the excellent 2025 Kira Skov album, “What Ties Us Together Will Tear Us Apart”, which I reviewed for this magazine and awarded it a deserved five stars.
Rexen’s music unites Western and Middle Eastern traditions, and his vocals and lyrics have made him one of the most distinctive personalities on the Danish scene.
The Chauffeur”, released via Denmark’s respected Stunt Records label, is an ambitious, cinematic work and mixed by his longtime idol, John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse). Here, he steps into the role of “the chauffeur,” the serving protector and poetic guide who carries the listener from beginning to end without asking anything in return. Each song reflects this ethos, offering stories of love, care, responsibility, and emotional endurance.
These 11 songs unfold as a meditation on the modern masculine role; vulnerability and strength not opposites but deeply connected. He explores how devotion can become both a virtue and a burden, especially when care turns into isolation. Themes of failed love, trust, and responsibility are delivered through richly textured songs that draw sonic inspiration from artists such as Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave.
“A high-fidelity, analogue-rooted sound that resists the fast-paced, disposable tendencies of contemporary music. It is a slow, nourishing listen; an album made for deep engagement”, says the marketing blurb. I agree.
It is a hard task to pigeon-hole the exact genre of this stuff. Maybe it is a cop out on my part to say listen to it yourself and you decide. In its own lane, it is quirky and unusual. Not a ‘one-listen and you’ll love it’ collection at all. One you really need to sit with and soak up to digest over a few plays. Probably Marmite for some.
I admit on first play I was of the mind that this may not be for me. Then with a more comfortable seat away from the desk and the computer, giving it total focus and a couple more spins, I began to appreciate the layers here and how different it is to what I’d normally choose to stick on the CD player.
I do think the assembled “cast” of musicians added huge value; Anders Christensen: bass guitar, piano/Silas Tinglef: drums, drum machine/Sasha Agranov: cello/Henry Arthur Gibbs: backing vocals, harmonica/Maria Jagd: violin. Michael Rexen: lead vocals, acoustic guitar.
He is billed as “alternative troubadour” and the genre of this record as “alt-folk, indie-rock and singer-songwriter”. Perhaps that means the record label guys had the same tough challenge as I did in trying to nail down this album’s unique style!
It does veer a tad into self-indulgence for me, and lost my attention a couple of times. But I am not going to name songs here from this 40 minute selection, in the normal “best tracks” format; as it is entirely down to personal taste.
It really isn’t like anything else I have heard in the time I have been reviewing music, and that is a positive.
By Christopher Weston
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
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