.NoWordsNeedeD, 30-08-2026

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzZBbX5A1FA

 

.No 

2026, week 35. 5 singles

Another week, another bunch of singles. Enjoy!

butsowhat. SisterBessie

Truth be, I'd never expected to review the debut single from a tattoo artist from Kopenhagen having moved to Amsterdam. It is also for the first time since a few year that I review a song in the style of "hey ho" or "ho hey" music. SisterBessie does not become that exuberant nor sings hey ho anywhere, it is in the atmosphere and melody of butsowhat. Adam Højlund Pukki, who is SisterBessie, presents a subdued form of music, that can be played with an acoustic guitar only around the campfire. Singer-songwriter and folk can be adequate descriptions of his music. From there the song is subtly arranged around his voice. Pukki's voice is not the best I've heard but it has the character needed to address the personal topic about relations and friendships in a convincing way.

The Reckoning. Cindy Larson

Cindy Lawson returned to punkrock in 2022 and made it to these pages regularly that year, leading up to her album 'New Tricks'. Four years later she returns with single The Reckoning, announcing a to be released EP. On her new single she captures a truckload of energy, enough to light up a small town for a night or two. The Reckoning shows how music of old can be treated with respect and turned into great new songs. The song rocks and rolls with a great role for a dirty sounding lead guitar that makes great use of the fundament the band lays down for it. Over it all Cindy Lawson steps into the spot light and grabs the attention the song allows her and she deserves. Her voice was made for tough songs like this, without losing any femininity, as she can shout and pur at the right time, while without doubt kicking a loud-mouthed, rude man into the corner. "On your knees and cry". More direct than this lyrics seldom come. 

Ride With You. Cast of The Wanderer

What a strange band name, I thought. It turns out that it is the cast of the musical 'The Wanderer' based on the career and life of Dion (DiMucci) of 'The Wanderer' and 'Runaround Sue' fame from the post Elvis and pre-Beatles era. I take it that Ride With You is a song about as old as the two famous hits. Translated into the musical, it becomes a stark, modern sounding rocker, that fits in today quite well. There's no way Dion has ever sounded like this. The two vocalists, Mike Wartella and Diego Andres Rodriguez, really rip it up and remind me of on the one hand Status Quo and the other John Travolta in 'Greased Lightning'. It is loud and it rocks but is smooth enough to go down nicely with a bigger, more average crowd as well.  The musical has some songs that were written specifically for the musical. Ride With You is a Dion song though. The original is a jazzy, bluesy song that has gotten a total makeover and a successful one at that. I do not mind to ride with both versions for a while though.

You’ve Got To Choose feat. Mia Boostrom. Sean Coleman Project

From jazzy-bluesy to blues with a lot more, all contained in the voice of Mia Boostrom. I have never heard of her before, but what a voice. The song starts hesitatingly though. It's as if it will be a sort of gospel inspired song, with an acoustic guitar and a Hammond organ. And then comes in this big drum fill and a few lead notes and the rhythm guitar playing the riff. The whole brings Mia Boostrom in her strength and from that moment onwards she doesn't look back. Let's say that Beth Hart has a great competitor. The band behind really rocks out. To think that You've Got To Choose is a debut single from Sean Coleman Project, what more lies in wait for us?

Into The Stars. Nocona

Into The Stars? That title was almost the title of the first The Rolling Stones single of its latest album 'Foreign Tongues'. Los Angeles band Nocona uses the same title to announce its upcoming album 'Backslider' scheduled for release in December. Nocona touches upon a country flavour, while mildly rocking nonetheless. The pedal steel guitar takes on a big role with its typical sound, bringing up images of balmy evenings somewhere in the South. It gives Into The Stars a distinct flavour that takes it away from the way it starts. I'm inclined to place it somewhere between country rock and pop and there the magic happens. This year it has been six years since Nocona was on this blog first with it album 'Los Dos'. And here is the second single this year already. My appetite has been wetted.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Jeune & Laide. Camille Yembe

De Nederlandse popmuziek bloeit momenteel volop, maar ook bij onze zuiderburen gebeurt van alles en België heeft met Jeune & Laide, het debuutalbum van de Brusselse Camille Yembe, echt een hele bijzondere troef in handen.

Het debuutalbum van Camille Yembe pikte ik met enig geluk uit de releaselijsten, maar vervolgens had het album niet veel tijd nodig om me te overtuigen. De in Brussel geboren en getogen Camille Yembe trok in eigen land de afgelopen jaren al de aandacht, maar gaat met haar debuutalbum ook buiten de landsgrenzen de aandacht trekken. Jeune & Laide is immers een album dat er binnen de Franstalige popmuziek van het moment niet alleen wat betreft de kwaliteit uitspringt, maar het is ook een album dat grenzen verlegt. Het is een album met de moderne Franstalige popmuziek van het moment, maar het is ook een album vol echo’s uit het verleden en een album dat steeds interessanter wordt. 

Ik heb met enige regelmaat een enorm zwak voor Franstalige popmuziek, waarbij ik ook de hitgevoelige Franse popmuziek niet uit de weg ga. Het interessantst zijn natuurlijk de Franstalige albums die wel buiten de lijntjes kleuren en dat bij voorkeur flink doen. Wat dat betreft steekt La Symphonie des Éclairs van Zaho de Sagazan er voor mij de afgelopen jaren flink bovenuit. 

Ook Zaz behoort wat mij betreft al vele jaren tot de smaakmakers van de Franse popmuziek, al vind ik haar vroege albums interessanter dan haar recentere albums. Deze week is een Franstalig album verschenen dat wel eens in de voetsporen kan treden van de sensationeel goede albums van onder andere Zaz en Zaho de Sagazan. Jeune & Laide van Camille Yembe, want dat is het album waar het om gaat, kwam ik deze week tegen in een aantal lijstjes met nieuwe albums. 

Bij vluchtige beluistering van het album was mijn interesse direct gewekt, maar toen ik het hele album had gehoord was ik compleet in de ban van het debuutalbum van Camille Yembe. Sindsdien is Jeune & Laide alleen maar interessanter en indrukwekkender geworden. 

Camille Yembe werd geboren in België en heeft een Congolese vader en een Belgische moeder. Ze groeide op in het Brusselse Molenbeek, waar het gezin het niet breed had. Camille Yembe had een lastige jeugd en stond al vroeg op eigen benen, zonder een bron van inkomen. Ze kwam uiteindelijk terecht in de muziek en trok vorig jaar in België al de aandacht met haar EP, die onder andere werd aangeprezen door Stromae. 

Nu is haar debuutalbum verschenen en dat is een album dat ook buiten België de aandacht gaat trekken. Jeune & Laide is een persoonlijk album over opgroeien in armoede, volwassen worden, overleven op straat en het ontdekken van de eigen (Afrikaanse) identiteit. 

Dat het een persoonlijk album is, lees je in de teksten van de Belgische muzikante, maar je hoort het ook in haar stem, die alle songs van veel emotionele lading voorziet. Camille Yembe beschikt over een hele mooie stem, maar het is ook een stem die je keer op keer bij de strot grijpt. 

De persoonlijke songs van Camille Yembe en haar indrukwekkende stem dragen stevig bij aan de hoge kwaliteit van haar debuutalbum, maar ook in muzikaal opzicht is het een fascinerend album. Het is knap hoe de Brusselse muzikante binnen een paar noten kan schakelen van muziek die geen geheim maakt van bewondering voor het traditionele Franse chanson naar de elektronische popmuziek van het moment. 

 Jeune & Laide verschiet hierdoor continu van kleur en zit af en toe ook flink buiten mijn muzikale comfort zone, maar ook als Camille Yembe kiest voor rap en hiphop houdt ze mijn aandacht makkelijk vast. Als je vaker naar het debuutalbum van de Belgische muzikante luistert, hoor je steeds meer bijzonders.

Jeune & Laide schakelt makkelijk tussen genres, maar springt ook door de tijd met het ene moment de sfeer van Franse chansons uit de jaren 70 of pop uit de jaren 80 en het andere moment de popmuziek van deze tijd. Camille Yembe wordt in eigen land vergeleken met Stromae en zelfs met Rosalía. Dat hoor ik persoonlijk niet, maar ik hoor wel een eigenzinnige muzikante die de Franstalige popmuziek met haar debuutalbum in een net wat andere en bijzonder interessante richting duwt.

Erwin Zijleman

The Dark. Chelsea Wolfe

For Chelsea Wolfe reviews until today you had to read reviews by Erwin Zijleman. You can find three on this blog to date. Here comes my debut as a Chelsea Wolfe reviewer.

It has everything to do with the opening track, 'Cold'. The opening line and notes caught my ears immediately. Just a singer and an acoustic guitar playing the exact right melody it seems. The song slowly becomes bigger because of the piano chords that are added and the emphasis Ms Wolfe puts on her vocals. When the rest of the band joins the song becomes even stronger with a chorus that seems as simple as it is effective. In other words a great chorus. But the opening line, "I'm letting you go" are the first words that are sung on the album and here I'm let in to Chelsea Wolfe's musical universe at once.

The more I hear 'Cold', the more intense it sounds to me. The song gets into to me deeper and deeper. The kind of song I want to play over and over. It holds elements of the best songs of Sophie Hunger in the "so cold ... so alone" sequence and adds a dark kind of pop music to the whole. The piano takes on a driving quality and then drops away for a whispered part. The song goes through a host of emotions changing black to other colours and back again.

'Cold' may be of an über quality in my ears, as a whole The Dark keeps my interest with ease. Chelsea Wolfe plays with my ears in several ways. Although she is always serious, no musical joking in her musical universe, she does use different approaches to songs and within songs. 'Seethe' is a great example. The strict, uniform beginning gives way to an almost dance infused chorus. Still the song is strict and tight, but all sorts of sounds and voices are allowed to escape from the strictness.

Later on I'm remembered of female fronted gothic rock bands like Within Temptation, without the sound becoming this huge. It is an example of the element of surprise that can be heard all though The Dark. It is what makes it an attractive and good album to listen to. In the past, I have heard albums by Chelsea Wolfe but none invited me to spend more time with them. That has changed with The Dark. It's an album that wants me to get to know it a lot better than just for today. And I will.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order The Dark here:

https://chelseawolfe.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark 

 

Lost Weekend. Phoebe Bridgers

Although this is only Phoebe Bridgers' third solo effort, she is around for about ten years and as a part of boygenius she has become perhaps even more famous. For my part, I have not been convinced of her solo work, and neither of her two colleagues, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. boygenius did go down well though. So here is Lost Weekend and what do I think?

Recently, I saw a video podcast about 'Revolver', posing that it was the album that set the standard for recording techniques for all that was to come. Listening to all the effects used on Lost Weekend, it shows that the narrator was more than right. Of course, the studio and in many cases a laptop can do a hundredfold more than the 'EMI studio', as it was called then, was capable of in the spring of 1966. Phoebe Bridgers makes use of it all and successfully so.

For the first time, I am sucked into her album almost from the start, despite the electronic start of the album and her vocoder recorded voice. Let's face it, it is a bit weird to return as a solo artist and distancing yourself from your listeners as Phoebe Bridgers does on 'The Outsiders'. And yet, she caught me immediately with the song. Something I cannot explain to you. She didn't the first time around with 'Lost Boys', the most popular and second song on Lost Weekend. That has changed by now. I even find myself singing 'Lost Boys' in my head. From what I've read, is that Ms. Bridgers did want to put distance between the world, her fans and herself for some time. After boygenius went on hiatus, she took her time to figure her next step and her life out. Blood goes where it needs to go though as singer-songwriter and that is all that matters for the listener of Lost Weekend. Does the title refer to John Lennon's lost weekend in L.A., that lasted for about a year?

If anything, Phoebe Bridgers is at the top of her game with Lost Weekend. Somewhere between modernism, singer-songwriter and folk she invites her listeners to pay attention to her music. That starts with the electronics of 'The Outsiders' and the more lush arrangements in the first half of the album. Much is made by others on the two sides to this album. The second half is perhaps more elementary where the arrangements are concerned, the atmosphere of Lost Weekend does not significantly change. In that sense, it is an album, as one piece of work.

That one piece includes the at times personal lyrics in contrast with the at times aloof presentation in the music. That must be a very conscious choice by Phoebe Bridgers. Show and hide and let the listeners take care of themselves. They always do anyway, reading in lyrics what it is they get out of it. To me it seems the most difficult for a singer to do, writing lyrics that you may have to sing for decades to come. Fans demand it, while you may not want to, as things change in lives.

Coming late to the Phoebe Bridgers party, it does make me wonder if I have missed something on 'Somewhere In The Alps' and 'Punisher' that I did not or was not able to hear in 2017 and 2020. It may be time to take a re-listen. Lost Weekend goes down quite well and so did boygenius for most of the songs. Not to forget Phoebe Bridgers' contributions to the last two The National albums. So, who knows where I will wind up.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Lost Weekend here:

https://phoebebridgers.bandcamp.com/album/lost-weekend