The Dø

The Dø

27 July, 2009
by: Tom Jeffreys

Back in February, I reviewed 'On My Shoulders', the then new single from kooky Franco-Finnish fashion popsters The Dø. I completely fell in love with that song, and have been playing it – and the rest of lovely debut album 'A Mouthful' – pretty much constantly ever since. No wonder both my flatmates moved out…

So, anyway, when I heard they were playing the Camden Barfly, I was naturally pretty delighted. Being granted an interview with the duo (or duø, if you will) was obviously the, um, almond in the croissant, or whatever one says on the Continent.


Photo credit: Gemma Thomson

I arrive at the Barfly a little late (as ever) and The Dø are sitting on a black leather sofa in an otherwise largely empty upstairs room. Musician Dan Levy has completely lost his voice ('too much shouting' apparently) so it's pretty much a one-on-one chat with strikingly cheekboned singer Olivia Merilahti.

The most obvious thing about 'A Mouthful' is the sheer number of contrasting musical genres packed in there. Olivia agrees: 'We like so many different types of music and we like to have lots of different ingredients in our music. Maybe for the first album we didn't bother with choosing, we just did what we felt like. It's a bit like if you're cooking something and you just put everything you like into it and just eat it!'


Photo credit: Gemma Thomson

Trust the French to bring up food straight away, but then the album is called 'A Mouthful'. And there's definitely a sense of joy about The Dø and their music that's kind of comparable to the French love of food. This, it seems, is mirrored in the songwriting process. 'Usually I write the lyrics on my own,' Olivia explains, 'and then we write the song together. But there's no particular rule.  It's just really fun when we get to be together in the studio and just play with loads of different instruments.'

I'm intrigued why – given their nationality – most of the songs are in English. 'Why not?' asks Olivia. 'It's my musical culture, it's what I've been listening to all my life. I speak Finnish and French and it's like the language in between. I think we both like universal things, things that are international, and to give emotion to people from different backgrounds and cultures. I think that's really fun!'


Photo credit: crazybobbles

This sense of universality has seen packed out live shows across Europe and there's also a US tour coming up in September. 'There's only one place where we haven't been very lucky and that's the South of France, strangely enough. I don't know why?' 'They're all too busy eating,' I suggest. 'Ha ha, yeah probably, or sunbathing!'

So what is the live show like? 'It's quite different,' according to Olivia. 'Some people like it, some don't – it's much more electric, it's quite loud compared to the album, which is quite stripped down in terms of the sound maybe, almost acoustic. But we like it that way! You'll see…'


Photo credit: crazybobbles

Indeed. Olivia's right: the sound is much heavier, much louder, and much better-suited to a packed and sweaty Barfly. Some of the album's delicate charm gets a little battered (Olivia's rap on 'Queen Dot Kong' almost disappears entirely) but the overall effect is great. In particular, 'The Bridge is Broken' benefits from a beefing up – on record it's perhaps a little introverted, but, live, it's richly thrilling.

And the single that got me into The Dø in the first place? 'On My Shoulders' is incredible – Olivia's vocals retain that beautiful combination of hope and melancholy, but there's a surprising robustness here too. It's as if – uncorked, live – the song matures instantly and wonderfully. It's a shame there's no encore, but the crowd – a real mix of nationalities – seems delighted anyway. And no wonder: The Dø have been quite dazzling.


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Tom Jeffreys