Blake HarperJune 30, 2017
Pony Up
Much to the delight of countless young girls and a surprising amount of grown men who enjoy dressing up like ponies, the first trailer for My Little Pony: The Movie was this week. While the trailer keys up some serious drama in Equestria and shows off the heavy-hitting voice cast — including Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, and Uzo Aduba — the best part of the trailer was Lukas Graham, a band from Denmark who performs the trailer’s awesome song “Off To See the World.” The song is perfect for the trailer, featuring a fun, poppy, melody that’s catchy-as-Ebola capped off by an energetic “Oh”-ing. It’s even more impressive when you learn about Lukas Graham’s wonderfully weird history.
The Danish pop and soul band was formed in 2011 and consists of lead vocalist Lukas Forchhammer, drummer Mark Falgren, and bassist Magnus Larsson. The band has achieved global success thanks to hits like “Drunk in the Morning,” which tells the story of a man drunk dialing potential lovers at 5 AM, and “Mama Said,” which features Forchhammer wishing his mom could still comfort him like she did when he was a child. The latter song is especially interesting given the upbringing of Forchhammer, as the singer was raised by his parents in an “anarchist Utopia” called Christiana.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Forchhammer fondly recalled his unique upbringing but did admit there were some rough aspects. For example, he knew “how to mix a Molotov cocktail before I knew how to mix a Long Island iced tea.” Once he was old enough, he left his utopia behind to pursue music, eventually forming Lukas Graham. And now, he has achieved every anarchist’s dream: writing a totally awesome song that is featured in the trailer of My Little Pony: The Movie. Stir that pot, man.