Round Midnight presents Svaneborg Kardyb

When Nikolaj Svaneborg and Jonas Kardyb reconnected in Aarhus six years after first meeting in northern Denmark, their musical chemistry was instant. “We didn’t have to say anything,” recalls Jonas. “We’d just play, and it was already music.” This intuitive approach — what they call composing in the moment — remains at the heart of Svaneborg Kardyb.

Nikolaj’s gentle, melodic piano style stems from a childhood spent softening a bright home piano with cloth, while his roots in Denmark’s Højskole community singing tradition taught him the beauty of simplicity. Jonas brings a contrasting background in folk, blues and Americana, shaped by Denmark’s Tønder Festival and artists like Bob Dylan and The Band. Together, they blend jazz, folk and ambient minimalism into music that feels both spacious and deeply human.

A chance discovery of Polish artist Hania Rani led them to Manchester’s Gondwana Records, where they released Over Tage (2022) and Superkilen (2024). Their sound — intimate yet expansive — has carried them around the world. “With instrumental music, there are no words separating people,” says Nikolaj. “Everyone’s on the same page.”