J. LUDVIG III SHARES EMOTIONAL DOUBLE SINGLE ‘SAVIOR’ / ‘PRAY’
Copenhagen-based drummer, composer and producer returns with first new music since 2024’s EMOTAN
Out now via B4 | New York debut at Nightclub 101 on 14th November
Copenhagen’s J. Ludvig III steps back into the spotlight with ‘Savior’ / ‘Pray’, a striking new double single out now via B4. His first release since 2024’s EMOTAN, the two-track offering marks the beginning of a new chapter, with a wider project set to arrive in 2027. To celebrate, Ludvigsen will make his New York debut at Nightclub 101 on 14th November, alongside Chuck Roth and No. 006.
Originally conceived as one sprawling composition, ‘Savior’ and ‘Pray’ have been split into two distinct but deeply intertwined pieces. Together, they explore the messy contradictions of love, devotion and the desperate need to be rescued — transforming emotional turmoil into something cinematic, mythological and gloriously unhinged.
‘Savior’ casts a spell over the impulse to protect someone who may be doing you harm. A tale of manipulation and misplaced heroism, it turns the familiar dynamics of a gaslighting relationship into an epic battle of swords, shields and grand gestures. Beneath the armour, however, lurks a more uncomfortable truth: the self-appointed saviour might be the one in need of saving.
‘Pray’ takes the same lyrical material and tears it open, embracing a more spontaneous, improvisational spirit. Mournful and volatile, it captures the feeling of a storm gathering just before the inevitable break.
“To me it almost sounds like a live recording,” Ludvigsen explains. “It’s a really mournful yearning to be saved, hoping there’s always someone on the line, prepared to intervene. It also sounds like a thunderstorm, a storm brewing: an explosive feeling on the cusp of bursting.”
The tracks draw on the fantastical worlds that shaped Ludvigsen’s childhood, from Disney soundtracks and 90s cinema to the sweeping scores of John Williams and the enduring influence of The Lord of the Rings. These once-embarrassing obsessions have become a liberating creative language, allowing him to frame deeply personal experiences through a lens of fantasy and absurdity.
“Since EMOTAN, it’s been freeing to find out that I can draw inspiration from the things I grew up with without feeling ashamed, but empowered,” he says.
Sitting at the crossroads of alternative R&B, emo and indie, J. Ludvig III’s sound is built around the visceral interplay of voice and drums, balancing jazz-informed rhythmic instincts with the pull of naïve pop hooks and widescreen emotional intensity. As one friend once described it, his music is “a constant push and pull between extreme shyness and outbreaks of emotion.”
Where EMOTAN — named after the YouTube account where Ludvigsen uploaded drum solos as a teenager — channelled the darkness of a breakup through black metal imagery, ‘Savior’ / ‘Pray’ finds him revisiting similar emotional terrain with a newly heroic, self-aware and occasionally absurd perspective.
One of Denmark’s most in-demand musicians, Jonathan J. Ludvigsen has built an impressive reputation across Copenhagen’s jazz, experimental and alt-pop scenes. Best known for his work as drummer for Erika de Casier, including contributions to her acclaimed third album, he has also collaborated with Dallas R&B and neo-soul artist Liv.e and performed with jazz trio Athletic Progression. With J. Ludvig III, he steps out from behind the kit to expose something altogether more vulnerable — and more explosive.
‘Savior’ / ‘Pray’ is out now via B4.
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