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J. Ludvig III is the solo moniker of renowned Danish drummer Jonathan Jull Ludvigsen. Ludvigsen first gained notoriety as part of the award-winning contemporary jazz trio Athletic Progression; the band released music with the seminal South London label and curatorial platform Touching Bass and performed at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival. Ludvigsen’s precision, stylistic range, and talent for playing breakbeats live eventually caught the attention of rising R&B sensation Erika de Casier, who in 2018 invited him to play with her on tour. Since then, he has toured extensively with de Casier and with breakout R&B star Liv.e. J. Ludvig III began to take shape during Ludvigsen’s time at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus; there, he began to explore the interplay between a highly technical drumming style and an emotive, melody-driven, stream-of-consciousness songwriting approach. In 2021, Ludvigsen released Sadboy Fusion, his first album as J. Ludvig III. The album showcased the results of Ludvigsen’s early explorations: on it, Ludvigsen’s incisive drumming underpins meandering, plaintive vocal lines and blooming instrumentation.
In 2024 Ludvigsen returned with EMOTAN, an album propelled by separation, loss, and a drive to defy expectation. Just as Sadboy Fusion was released, two of the key relationships in Ludvigsen’s life—one professional, one personal—ended on the same night. Picking up the pieces, Ludvigsen turned to the studio to process his acute grief and frustration. He also sought to step outside of the box into which he felt he had been placed: that of a drummer first and foremost. “I think I’ve always wanted to prove that I can write music that isn’t dependent on my drumming…. In a lot of ways this music is a better representation of who I actually am,” Ludvigsen says of EMOTAN. The album draws its name from the YouTube account where a teenage Ludvigsen would post drum covers. During the writing of the album, he found himself returning to the emo, hardcore, and alt-metal to which he used to listen back then—decidedly uncool music with which he nevertheless still holds a deep emotional connection.
Those influences cut through clearly on the album, which is painted in inky blacks and oily browns, suffused with climbing vocals and slicing guitars, coated in distortion, winding through an abyss. Ludvigsen’s expert drumming elevates the album, but it is decidedly not the focus; his playing only occasionally pokes through the haze. Instead, his production and vocal experimentation form the album’s gravitational center. Ludvigsen’s voice weaves through and around his arrangements as he utilizes every corner of his vocal register, from whispers and falsetto mumbles to yelps and fry screams.
Ludvigsen’s drumming is perhaps on clearest display on lead single “RELAPSE” where his flurried playing drives a continuous crescendo—in the track’s music video, breakneck editing and stuttering lighting distort Ludvigsen into an almost inhuman vessel, carrying anguish and argument. “FLAWED” featuring Lecx Stacy, begins intimately with a lone voice and guitar, before exploding, furious, Stacy’s voice shredding through the open space. “ONE TO LEAVE YOU” flirts with conventional pop and is underpinned by emo-influenced vocal performances by both Ludvigsen and his brother, by turns gentle and wrung dry. On “PRO BRO” Ludvigsen processes the hurt of losing a friend and a vision of his future in one sweep; he alternates between perspectives of a relationship breakdown before opening to a wider, confessional view of the conflict. And “DOWN THE LINE” is plaintive and halting, defined by its negative space, an outpouring of frustration borne of singular ambition; Nanna Schannong of indie band Lowly helps lift the track to its zenith before it tumbles down into a crash of scattered percussion.
EMOTAN is an expansive album, as deeply personal as it is experimental. With it, Ludvigsen takes a bold and definitive step forward, beyond the confines of his identity as a drummer and straight through his own personal hurt.
Jonathan has since the release of EMOTAN put out a EMOTAN REMIXES album with remixes from Fire-Toolz, Cassius Select and Flanafi to name a few. He has also played SPOT-festival & Roskilde festival, where his show was mentioned as a highlight by publications such as Clash magazine & Soundvenue.
EMOTAN released on April 26th on b4.
