Description
Long regarded as singular architects within European post-rock, EF have built a catalogue defined by dynamic patience, melodic clarity, and widescreen emotional reach. Across two decades of touring, the Gothenburg ensemble have carried that language to clubs and theatres at home and abroad, earning a reputation for meticulous, high-impact live shows and a body of work that has steadily gathered critical regard and a devoted international following.
In 2025, EF and Pelagic Records mark a double milestone: the 20th anniversary of ‘Give Me Beauty… or Give Me Death!’ and Pelagic Record’s 300th release. Reimagined and with expanded production, this edition is a considered re-engagement with the material that first crystallised EF’s voice. The band returns to these songs with the benefit of twenty years’ craft, presenting new arrangements that stretch time and deepen narrative, while retaining the quiet-to-catharsis arc that has always set their music apart.
“Since it’s our precious first born we wanted to give it the love it surely deserves. We felt we didn’t want to celebrate its big 20th birthday by just remastering it and we surely didn’t want to make the songs too modern and unrecognisable for the old fans. We wanted to give it a tighter, more dramatic and bombastic make over… a gentle touch of today’s EF.” (Niklas Åström)
Originally released in 2006, ‘Give Me Beauty… or Give Me Death!’ introduced EF’s signature blend of cinematic guitars, patient dynamics and aching melody. For this new edition, along with an incredible cover illustration by Phillip Janta and brand-new bonus track ‘Noll’, the band returned to the material with fresh ears and clear intentions: to open more space in the arrangements and to enrich the melodic lines with orchestral colour.
“When we recorded the originals back in 2005 we didn’t know much about arrangements nor did we know many musicians playing strings or brass. We also didn’t have enough money to rent a studio for more than three days, which forced us to rock and record all the songs live with minimum retakes. The add ons were later done in Daniel’s (Juline) apartment with a shitty microphone and you can hear someone dishes in the kitchen and the trams running by outside.
This time we had money saved up and time to hang out in the studio to play around, arrange and track properly but also to bring in professional musicians to fulfil our musical vision. It was intended 20 years ago but we couldn’t get it done.” (Niklas Åström)
The compositions now open further, allowing phrases to breathe and themes to unfold with greater intention. Brass and strings thread through the arrangements to widen the harmonic field and intensify the music’s gravitational pull. Guitar architectures are voiced with more restraint and more consequence; percussion serving the songs whilst retaining the backbone. Dynamics have been sculpted with greater nuance; crescendos are permitted to unwind more slowly, and motifs are developed with discipline, small gestures accruing significance until the inevitable release, the swell of post-rock roars, in which we find EF’s lyricism within a larger, orchestral-adjacent palette.
“We’ve of course learned a lot about each other. How people behave or act in different settings and time of the day. We’ve learned to listen to what the songs really need and what we can skip. All three guitars don’t have to play at the same time. It doesn’t have to be a drum beat on every part of the song. Less can be more – and that’s very important for the dynamics.” (Niklas Åström)
Production is central to this revisit. Working with the perspective that only longevity affords, EF have re-recorded and refined with a fidelity that reveals the music’s inner geometry. The result is depth—literal and emotional—that reframes familiar material without diluting its intent. Songs you thought you knew adopt a new gait: crescendos bloom with additional overtones; stark passages carry more air; intimate textures sit closer to the skin.
“Our very own Daniel (Juline) have been responsible to write the arrangements and together with our live member János (Alexander Madaras) have together made up what’s possible to add and how to do most of it. I mean, all songs have grown a lot just by using more strings/brass… The biggest change from the original is that we’ve recorded with click making it tight. And since digitalisation is so much more powerful now we can do retakes and edit wherever we want and feel is needed. (Niklas Åström)
For Pelagic Records, release number 300 is both a celebration and statement of intent: an affirmation that the label’s long-game approach to curation continues to reward artists who value evolution. For EF, this release closes a circle while drawing a new one around where they are now—seasoned, sonically expansive, and unafraid to reinvent and elevate.
“We’re all grown up now, but we’re emo kids at heart. The EF story is mainly about being friends – or a family – sticking together. Our songs are about broken hearts, hopeful changes, seasons changing and the moods we experience with that, mental illness. We’ve never had any agenda with EF. We’ve never used the band to spread our political views or messages to affect people. We’ve wanted to keep EF as a musical outlet that hopefully touches some emotional strings in people.” (Niklas Åström)
‘Give Me Beauty… or Give Me Death!’ (20th-Anniversary Edition) is a document of growth rendered with care: more instrumentation, more time, more consequence. The album is an act of stewardship— both a homage and a forward-looking manifesto for EF and for discerning listeners everywhere.
FOR FANS OF
Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, Caspian, Gospeed You! Black Emperor, Yndi Halda, Mono, PG.Lost, The Evpatoria Report, Wang Wen, This Patch of Sky
