Axel started releasing electronic music on Soundcloud back at 2010. Just a year after his first release, Axel was notified as a "Sounclouder of the Day" with his concept album "Waste Land" inspired by poet T.S. Eliot. During that time Axel also started studying musicology at the University of Helsinki, where he got interested in sound design and electroacoustic music. From 2011 onward, he released couple EP's where he further developed his skills as a music producer as well as a composer.
In 2014 Axel experimented with some eastern vibes and samples from India, which lead to the smash hit Bad Karma. After Bad Karma Axel released a couple of singles and continued his endeavors with Mr. Eliot, releasing his musical interpretation of the poem "The Hollow Men".
His single releases "Done & Reincarnation" in 2016 were the beginning of a new era, which led the way to even more diverse style. With songs ranging genres like Future Bass, Future Garage, World Bass, Eastern Impacts, Tribal, and even Tropical sounds.
The year 2017 began with his first music video release, Bad Karma. Single "Need You" was released on Valentine's Day and reached high-end playlists like Chillout Lounge (500k+ followers). Followed by double single release Your Voice / Like a Lullaby in April and a vocal song Fighter made with a Brit singer-songwriter Richard Walters in May - the song got previewed on BBC.
In early July, Axel continued his musical endeavor collaborating a song Free with an upcoming Finnish artist Ronja. Free got good traction on its first week of the release, by being added on 6 different New Music Friday playlists on Spotify (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Italy & Iceland).
In 2018 Axel continued his eastern influenced style and released the Two Worlds EP. A few months later, it was followed by an eastern influenced single Piya Mora. On November 30th it was the time for an Audiovisual EP based on the Two Two worlds EP. the 30-minute long visual journey to human condition was released on Youtube and have received an amazing response from the crowd.
Moving on to developing his live performance build around multiple instruments such as keytar, drum pad, and a midi mallet Axel made his US debut by touring with Beats Antique at the beginning of 2019. Followed by his first overseas festival performance at Envision festival held in Costa Rica.
v
Axel Thesleff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
prickly pear
This is the way the world ends
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
The song "V" by Axel Thesleff is a haunting and mysterious track that features a repeated refrain of "here we go round the prickly pear" at various intervals throughout the song. The first stanza sets the stage with this refrain, repeated twice, followed by the line "at five o'clock in the morning." This repetition shows a sense of repetition and perhaps monotony, suggesting that the singer is stuck in a loop, with each instance of "here we go round the prickly pear" signaling another cycle in this loop.
Throughout the rest of the song, the singer explores the concept of the "Shadow," which seems to represent a sense of uncertainty or the unknown. The Shadow falls between several things, including the idea and the reality, the conception and the creation, and the desire and the spasm. These phrases seem to be meant to represent the different stages of creation, whether that's the creation of ideas, emotions, or physical things. The repeated refrain of "for Thine is the Kingdom" seems to indicate a sense of submission or surrender to a higher power, as though the singer recognizes that they are not the ultimate creators of their own destiny.
At the end of the song, the phrase "this is the way the world ends" is repeated three times, followed by the final line, "not with a bang, but a whimper." This line, taken from T.S. Eliot's poem "The Hollow Men," suggests that the end of the world may not be a dramatic, explosive event, but rather a slow, quiet one. This further emphasizes the sense of uncertainty and unknown that pervades throughout the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Here we go round the prickly pear
The repetition of the prickly pear symbolizes the never-ending cycle of life and its hardships.
Prickly pear prickly pear
The repetition of the prickly pear symbolizes the never-ending cycle of life and its hardships.
At five o'clock in the morning.
The early hour of the day further represents the notion of cyclical nature and starts a new day with new challenges.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
The Shadow represents the imperfections of the human nature, and this stanza acknowledges the gap between our intentions, actions and their results, which may not fully align. It also recognizes a higher power that governs our world beyond our control, symbolized by the phrase “For Thine is the Kingdom”.
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Similar to the previous stanza, this one acknowledges that the process of creation and response is a long and challenging one filled with struggles and imperfections. However, it also highlights the longevity of life, and the impact of small steps taken towards a greater goal.
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
The third and final stanza calls attention to the complexities of life and the fragility of our existence. It highlights the struggle between desire and our physical limitations, learning to overcome them, and the importance of realizing our true essence before our descent into the great unknown. Again, the higher power governing our fate is acknowledged.
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This line is a repetition of the stanza before and indicates the significance of the higher power as an overarching force ruling the world.
This is the way the world ends
A nod to T.S. Eliot’s poem of the same name, the phrase reinforces the cyclical nature of things, where the end and the beginning are often connected.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
This line is taken from Eliot’s poem, further reinforcing the notion that life ends quietly and without fanfare, as it had started.
Contributed by Henry V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Pop Dan Sergiu
1:59 is where the volume goes 100%. Damn you, Axel, my car will need new speakers soon
Theresa T
Never considered myself to like this type of music but I love Axel Thesleff, especially Bad Karma✨
giddycadet
This is actually better than Bad Karma. It's clear that you worked hard to create such a weird piece of art and I truly appreciate it.
Also it's interesting to me that aside from Bad Karma, I seem to like the less liked ones - my favorites of yours are II (which I refer to as Disguises), V (which I call Prickly-Pear), and Dunya. This entire album is incredible though. Probably the only album I've ever heard where I actually love every song on it, not just like. Good fuckin job and thank you.
(In case you're curious: I call I "The Hollow Men," II is "Disguises," III is "Deadlands," IV is "Bapo," and V is "Prickly-pear")
Cassie G
This track is just so perfect, it hits all the right feels. I would die to dance to this live. If you ever find yourself in Australia, let me know.
Ujjwal gs
Man all the tracks are on constant loop everyday. 💓
Amon Bokako
I think ive played this track bout 10 times already. Loved how used the vocoder FX. Producers dont use that anymore.
MoonlitTezeract
This officially my new favorite song, so many positive vibes from this song. 😏
Umut Can Uygun
from I to V that was delicious, thinkfull, and absolutely different. Such a masterpiece. Thank you.
C McMichael
It's based on a poem by T.S Eliot.
TBirdThe18th
And now the end of the album. What a trip this was insane.