One of 2012’s biggest reasons to celebrate was the return of Alphabeat.

Spring brought a new single from the Copenhagen sextet, the super-sunny “Vacation” (#68 in Popservations’ Top 100 Tracks of 2012). Third studio album Express Non-Stop followed in the fall, Alphabeat’s first since 2009 and a set packed with references to pop music’s past. Impressively, they got their new tunes out into the world without the backing of a major label, doing their part to tear down outdated geographic boundaries.

For the latest entry in Popservations’ year-end series, I asked these great Danes to share what new music caught their ear in 2012. You’ll see that the band who lives and breathes pop music isn’t entirely singles-minded (no surprise, if you scanned my interview with drummer Troels Møller). Plus, read on to find out about Alphabeat’s ‘non-stop’ plans for 2020.

Alphabeats’ 5 Favorite Tracks/Albums of 2012:

Hot Chip – “Don’t Deny Your Heart”
Solange – “Losing You”
Sam Sparro – Return To Paradise
Chairlift – Something
Twin Shadow – Confess

Memorable moment from 2012:

“We were back in the UK for the first time since 2010 when we finished the The Beat Is… campaign and being back in good old London town was just amazing. We actually booked hotel and flights so that we could be in London for an extra day. We went shopping and went back east to our old neighborhood and had Steak & Ale pies at The Camel and went to The Dove in Broadway Market to have a zip of their 128 beers — heaven!

We didn’t believe it could get any better but it did! Playing in a small venue like Dingwalls in Camden in front of 500 of the most dedicated fans was unbelievable! The feeling was back, and we haven’t had so much fun in a very long time. We created the best possible setlist for everyone who came and we ended up playing 22 songs! The whole thing made us wish we could go tour the UK again sometime soon. The reaction we got from the crowd was amazing and it doesn’t always happen that you get a midweek audience in London town to bounce up and down. It was such a great time! Thanks to everyone there… We will never forget that gig!

Now we just need a U.S. tour too.”

Coming in 2020:

“We’re probably gonna release a couple of new singles [“Younger Than Yesterday,” please – Ed.] then tour a lot around Europe and hopefully be back in the studio for some songwriting and recording a new album in late 2020. We’ve already talked about some studio sessions in January.”

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Besides brightening the holiday season with a wonderful new Christmas song, “X-Mas (Let’s Do It Again),” Alphabeat has now treated us to this acoustic session filmed at their own Copenhagen Records studio last month.

The stripped-down, nine-song set showcases just how strong their songcraft is. Yes, “Younger Than Yesterday” is included: