Manhunter. Hooveriii

With an album called Manhunter and a first song called 'Melody' how can I not think of what might be my favourite The Rolling Stones song 'Melody'. "My nose is on a trail, I'm gonna catch you by surprise", sings Jagger as a true manhunter. Hooveriii's version has nothing to do with the Stones song, in any way, except that it is also a song. This 'Melody' is an alternative rock song that sets the mood for the new record of the Los Angeles band around songwriter and singer/guitarist Bert Hoover.

Over four years ago Hooveriii made its debut on this blog with its album 'Water For The Frogs'. In 2025 there is not a lot left of the psychedelic influences in the music of the band. In 2022 there were already references to Deep Purple and Uriah Heep heard on 'A Round Of Applause'. On Manhunter it is alternative rock all around.

Hooveriii really goes for that rock sound with a drums and bass that lay a super tight foundation that does not allow for a lot of divergence from the upper tempo rock sound. The rest of the band follows with delight is my impression. Guitars can explode at any time like in 'Heaven At The Gates'. They come in from all sides and angles. The band found enough melodies to sustain a more average band for ten songs/a whole album. Hooveriii squeezes it all into the outro of one song. At another point, at the end of 'Tarantula Eye', the whole song explodes with drummer Jon Modaff doing an "Animal" of giant proportions. The band follows him as if there is no tomorrow.

Another example is 'The Fly'. There's this sequence where the drummer is doing things that I have a hard time to keep up with even. Does he skip or add beats to the whole, while the band keeps track of the song? What time signature is it, 6/4? I have no clue but it sounds so cool.

I'll admit to Hooverii surprising me with Manhunter. This album sounds so alive. Sure, I liked the previous albums, otherwise I would not have written about them, but this is a musical next level. The songs are varied, adventurous and while the band may tap into decades of musical history, it has come up with its own work. From a soft keyboard instrumental, 'Cul-De-Sac' straight into a loud, fierce rock song, 'Isolationist'. It keeps a listener on his toes.

With Manhunter Hooveriii has set a new standard for itself. The band has grown and found more of its own voice. As you you've noticed, I had no inclination at all to compare the music on Manhunter to this or that. Hooveriii is Hooveriii, a band with a few faces and all of the spell Hooveriii.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Manhunter here:

https://hooveriii.bandcamp.com/album/manhunter

2025, week 20. 10 singles

High spring, that is the best word for our weather. Due to a lack of rain everything is covered in pollen of all elk that keep being transported by the wind. This year is on route to become the driest in recorded history and it is only half May. No rain equals no water, so it is going to be a disaster perhaps. Luckily, this is not the case musically. We have a nice selection lined up for you, so enjoy!

 

How To Be A Confidante. The Bug Club

Come 2025 and The Velvet Underground, disbanded in 1970, is still omnipresent. Just listen to How To Be A Confidente by The Bug Club and you'll hear all the familiar components of Reed-Morrison-Tucker and more Yule than Cale in an instant. In other words, The Bug Club returns to this blog with an alternative rocker that is dirty and vibrant. The singing between Sam Willmett and Tilly Harris makes it a real duet. The vocals are as wobbly as the music it. Sure it rocks, and the drummer, whoever he or she or it is, keeps things tightly together. The rest could go off the road any moment. The song is great, make no mistake there. The Bug Club is in great form and any fan of The Velvet Underground and the bands that followed it, will find their way immediately with it.

Anger. Personality Cult

Personality Cult is Ben Carr from Durham, North Carolina, who started releasing work under that name in 2018, picked up band members along the way and recently released the band's third album, 'Dilated'. Listening to Anger, it must be a fantastic alternative rock album. Anger is a loud song, filled with layers of guitars, with a bass and drums underneath it all. Anger somehow combines late 1960s pop-rock with alternative rock of the 90s and today. The song is filled with melody and harmonies. A The Byrds like guitar solo is almost hidden in the wall of sound Anger presents. Over it all Ben Carr sings with a voice like a bored, a bit whining teenager and yet the vocals jump out of the single. If the whole of 'Dilated' is only nearly as good as Anger, it is a must have album.

Two-legged Dog, feat. Abigail Morris. BC Camplight

BC Camplight? Do I have an album of this artist already? I'm nearly certain but can't find it. On Two-legged Dog he is joined by The Last Dinner Party's Abigail Morris. The song is almost pretentious in its approach, yet stands out because of it immediately. It has some soul in it, without becoming a soul song. It is enormous in sound without becoming a wall of sound. But what it truly is, I have a hard time defining for you. What I do know is that I like it. In the past there have been more obscure artists that have released songs like this and for the life of me, I do not know their names any more. There are just faint memories of the songs. 'Will You?' by Hazel O'Connor popped up while editing this post. Two-legged Dog is a song of near otherworldly proportions. In a way it is opera, which it isn't. Everything is made far bigger than it really is. BC Camplight is singer-songwriter Brian Christinzio, who is releasing his latest album, 'A Sober Conversation' on 27 June.

Paid Becso Am Dim. heddlu

Paid Becso Am Dim is Welsh for 'Don’t worry about a thing’. It may be the first Welsh language song on this blog. heddlu ('police') started in 2022 as a solo project of Rhodri Daniel. After having disbanded his band Estrons in 2019, Daniel was diagnosed with severe hearing damage and tinnitus. After a difficult period he was able to record the album 'Cantref' in 2022. Now followed by the upcoming 'Tramor'. Paid Becso Am Dim was written for his sister, who is battling a serious illness. With a tempo that brings Supergrass to mind, overlaid with a shot of psychedelia as was played already in the second half of the 1960s. It makes Paid Becso Am Dim a very nice hybrid song. heddlu may be hearing impaired, there's seems nothing wrong with his hearing music in many layers in his head and translating it into a recording. Nice song.

Northern Star. Nambyar

Nambyar is a totally new name to me. Behind the name is singer-songwriter Jesse Nambiar, who in October will release his second solo album, 'Remedy'. Before his solo career he played in the band Valerius, which rings some very faint bells. Northern Star is a ballad with a rocking solo guitar. At heart it is piano ballad though. Northern Star starts with just a piano and Nambyar's voice. His voice is able to shoot up in a way that brings to mind that beautiful album by Crime and Colour, 'If I Should Go Before You' from 2015. Both are of the kind where beauty goes before all else. After the quiet start, Northern Star goes into a passionate chorus, where the band join in. Things remain fairly quiet in the second verse, where strings join the band setting, including this great background aahhs and ooohs. It's the lead guitar that sets the song on fire for a short while, after which everything winds down with Nambyar assuring his love that he "loves her just the way she is", with other words.

Happy Sad (It's A Party). Robin Kester

Robin Kester may have come relatively late to professional music, she is compensating by cranking out music very regularly. In September 2024 there was the EP 'Patch' and now a new single, Happy Sad (It's A Party). The song has a strong pace, that is kept up relentlessly. No rest for the wicked here. The mood shows both sides of the title. The song is a variation on "It's My party and I cry if I want to". But then much faster, as the people around her may still be partying, despite the "he" who has left the person throwing the party. Initially, the song brought an old Fischer Z song to mind. That feeling left me as soon as Robin Kester started singing. This had to do with the tempo of Happy Sad (It's A Party) and the late 70s new wave feel the song has in the intro. Then listen to the saxophone underscoring Robin Kester's lyrics. The sadness is all over it. The drummer and bass player have no clue what's going on and keep the party going for the whole of the song. Very well done this.

Standing on the Fault Line. I'm With Her

I'm With Her, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan and Sara Watkins, can be found on this blog with the single 'Ancient Lights' near two months ago. In the meantime the album 'Wild and Clear and Blue' has been released, I only got around to the new single. There's simply too much music but I'm not complaining when I'm allowed to listen to something as beautiful as Standing on the Fault Line. The trio is in an absolute top form on this single. Two acoustic guitars are enough to support the three beautiful voices in the first half of the song. After the second chorus the song becomes more powerful, the three voices rise, but no matter what happens, the beauty remains. Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan and Sara Watkins appear to have gold in their hands, based on the two songs I've heard so far. It's time to get acquainted with that album.

Bisexual Panic. Small Miracles

More music from Wales. Time for a little uptempo punk music. Small Miracles is a new name to this blog. Bisexual Panic is an explosion of energy that fizzles out after 104 seconds, when everything is said and done. The single is the band's first from its upcoming debut album. The song is 104 seconds of chaos, energy and rawness. There's nothing subtle in Small Miracles' Bisexual Panic. Just an ongoing moshpit until the last one remains standing. I think that is all you need to know, to be able to join the ongoing pogoing.

Rock And Roll Crime. Foxy

I have no clue what happened to the guys who got themselves and the rest of the world off in 1978, leading the disco scene for a very short but very memorable way. This Foxy mixes punkrock The Ramones style with sharp lead guitar solos. In other words, there is no disco in sight for as far as the horizon allows me to see and most likely even beyond that faint thin line in the distance. This Foxy is from 2025, but. It plays sped up The Beach Boys style rock and roll as The Ramones used to do and artists like Geoff Palmer and Brad Marino are so good at today. Foxy brings just this little extra punk credibility to Rock And Roll Crime but not without forgetting to add some great pop elements like handclaps and a great chorus like 'Rock and Roll High School' or 'I Love Rock and Roll' have. To all appearances, I'd say that Foxy found out where Abraham has stashed his mustard. This is punk-pop-rock and roll to the max.

Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You. Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires

I wrote about the music-poetry project released by Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires on 16 March, when I wrote about the previous single, 'Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love?'. So, I'll let you look the story up there. Is it fate or coincidence that Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You is the last song ending the week as well? Who knows, it could be fate after all. Fact is, I find myself writing on the project that sets poems by Brian Bilston to music once again. The album, 'Sounds Made By Humans' was already released earlier this month. As I already wrote above here, there are  simply too many albums. The singles section is a nice alternative though. The Catenary Wires have created a beautiful melody around Bilston summing up song titles and fragments from lyrics that most music aficionados will recognise instantly, before the band returns to that infectious chorus. It seems like I can listen to poetry set to music. What a surprise? No, of course not. Good lyrics are poems.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

Flying With Angels. Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega got in my live like with most people I guess with her single 'Marlene On The Wall' and even more with 'Luka', a song about child abuse, in the second half of the 80s. I probably had the album, 'Solitude Standing' on a cassette tape but did not bother to buy the LP second hand until the mid 10s. That was when I started to appreciate it really. There are no other albums in my collection.

Come 2025 and the link to Flying With Angels came my way. Announced by two singles that made it into the weekly singles section of the blog, the surprising 'Rats' and 'Chambermaid'. The singles made it a probability that the album would come by as well. Having listened to it several times only proved my feeling right.

Flying With Angles is an album that combines the past forty years with one another. Suzanne Vega, who is now 65 years of age, still has the voice she had at the time of 'Luka', with just a little more depth in it. In some songs she is close to the singer-songwriter she was then. In others she is almost a rocker with a sound that spans the decades. She is able to make her songs sound very 2025 and very 1980s.

The album opens with 'Speaker's Corner'. It is a nice mid-tempo rock song that combines rock with her singer-songwriter background. You can hear her singing the song to herself, demoing the song in her home, hearing in her head already some the pieces that were added later. A slide guitar playing solo notes, the lead guitar adding dark lead parts. This is just the start. Speaker's Corner is filled with little melodies you'll discover only by listening with both your ears wide open.

The title song brings her closer to the original version of Suzanne Vega. Not without a band sound behind her though. You'll find it the vocal melody that is sort of hesitant and meandering over the instruments. Almost as if she's apologising for singing to you. There is a tension in both the vocal and the music. Combined, it makes for a very interesting song to listen to. 'Flying With Angels' is proving to me how correct I was on the basis of my impression of the singles. Again the magic musical sparks are in all the details sprinkled over the song. 'Flying With Angles' is an even richer song than 'Speaker's Corner', spanning a career that started 40 years ago with 2025.

That modern sound returns in 'Witch'. It starts as any rock ballad from the 70s and 80s start: with an acoustic guitar chord progression. 'Stairway To Heaven' even starts this way. Suzanne Vega can compete easily with a modern singer like Aldous Harding with this song. From the chorus onwards 'Witch' is rocking energetically and convincingly, samples fly around, as do guitars and keyboards. Later on single 'Rats' repeats that rocking feel.

As I already wrote, single 'Chambermaid' plays in a nice way with Bob Dylan's 'I Want You', another very pleasant surprise on Flying With Angles. 'Love Thief' is a soulful surprise, as Suzanne Vega takes us on a totally different musical side street. Philly soul, Barry White, is the time of day here.

On Flying With Angles, her first album for over a decade, Vega worked once again with long time collaborator and guitarist Gerry Leonard, who produced the album. Together they created an urgent album that does right to Suzanne Vega's legacy without leaning on her past successes. Flying With Angles sounds urgent. An album from an artist on a mission. Her most engaging song, 'Last Train From Mariupol', is the only one, despite the topic and "God is on it frightened by all he was seeing", that does not work for me musically. The other nine do and may make it my favourite album by Suzanne Vega and that is a feat not many artists can say after forty years in the business. Praise all around.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

And They Spoke In Anthems live. Saturday 10 May 2025, Haarlem

Photo Wout de Natris

Can an artist totally mesmerise an audience? That answer is of course yes and the smaller the venue the more intense the experience can be. The question needs to be more direct. Can an artist mesmerise an audience that, for the most part, has never heard a single song from that artist before? Let me tell you all about it.

On Saturday 10 May the Belgian singer-songwriter Arne Leurentop, who releases his songs under the name And They Spoke In Anthems, mesmerised a living room in Haarlem.

Going to a living room show, is always a surprise. Sometimes there is a full band, sometimes just a musician with an acoustic guitar and anything in between. When Leurentop arrived, he unloaded an enormous stack of gear and was setting up all sorts of connections between instruments, gear, a laptop and what not. I had no idea what to expect, but certainly not a one man orchestra.

How I got to know And They Spoke In Anthems, I can’t recall. It is either a record company sending a link to listen or a personal outreach from the artist, pointing me to a new record. ‘Money Time’ was my introduction in 2019, followed by the album ‘Still.’ And the mini album ‘.Here’. The accompanying bio said something about the many house shows played and so an invitation went out, the date set.

My guess is that most people come to the show without being familiar with the artist. That makes the effect Arne Leurentop had on the audience count for at least two. Sitting so close to each other, artist and audience, without any natural barrier, makes it possible to notice all emotions and responses and have an interaction, something that happens in a quite natural way.

Leurentop mostly played electric guitar but seldom without looping parts, so whole songs were created, including a beat, or a short keyboard part by pushing a pedal, playing an old Philips organ over the recorded guitar part. He even played a violin, as the emotional ending of a song about the death of one of his best friends.

Photo: Wout de Natris

Since I’ve started writing about music, I am listening in a different and a far more intense way to music and notice more than I did before. It is not so much that I did not hear what a song contains, as that I notice it more directly and most likely sooner. One of the things that strikes me often, is the difference between “a shallow song” and “a rich song”. This has nothing to do with the quality but with the musical experience.

What Arne Leurentop showed live, all by himself, is how he is able to find a melody within the chord structure of his song and then add another and another and another and they all fit perfectly. That is where music theory becomes mathematics, while an artist uses his imagination and ears. He not only did that with instruments. There were two songs where he started with looping his voice, until he had created a four part harmony, out of nowhere, with only one note played before he started to sing for his first loop. That was a truly mouthdropping moment for me.

That is all technique I’m writing about. The beauty of each individual song is the most important part, what it is all about. And They Spoke In Anthems has made a few beautiful albums so far. Live the songs came totally alive, as the emotion put into them was shown so abundantly. From very personal songs about loss, to a love song for Jacinda Ardern, the former New Zealand prime minister. (If this song doesn't win her over, nothing will. Sheer beauty it is.)

This show was an experience. Believe me when I tell you that nearly everyone in the audience said this was not only one the best shows they saw in this living room in Haarlem, it was one of the best shows they saw, ever. From my end, I can only agree. Arne Leurentop/And They Spoke In Anthems is a must see and hear.

Wout de Natris – van der Borght

 

You can buy the band's records here:

https://www.andtheyspokeinanthems.com/store

After Dark Hour. Ina Forsman

After Dark Hour is alweer het vierde studioalbum van de Finse muzikante Ina Forsman, die niet alleen een nog aangenamer geluid laat horen maar ook nog maar eens bewijst dat ze een van de allerbeste soulzangeressen van het moment is.

Het is een klein wonder en tegelijkertijd een grote schande dat Ina Forsman nog altijd zo onbekend is. De Finse muzikante laat immers al een aantal albums horen dat ze een geweldige zangeres is met meer soul in haar pink dat de meeste van haar tijdgenoten in hun hele lijf. De Finse muzikanten die zijn te horen op After Dark Hour spelen track na track de pannen van het dak op een album dat vooral teruggrijpt op de soul van weleer, maar het is de sensationele soulstem van Ina Forsman die de meeste indruk maakt. Het is echt de hoogste tijd dat Ina Forsman wereldberoemd gaat worden, want soulzangeressen van het niveau van de Finse muzikante zijn er echt maar heel weinig.

In de recente lijsten met nieuwe albums kwam ik het album helaas niet tegen, maar gelukkig wees iemand me op het nieuwe album van Ina Forsman, dat recent verschen. De Finse zangeres leverde de afgelopen tien jaar drie uitstekende studioalbums en een prima live-album af en het zijn albums die haar wat mij betreft wereldberoemd hadden moeten maken. Ina Forsman is immers een geweldige zangeres en maakt muziek waarvan je alleen maar zielsgelukkig kunt worden.

De Finse muzikante trok in eigen land ooit als tiener de aandacht in de Finse versie van Idols, waarna ze de kans kreeg om haar titelloze debuutalbum in Austin, Texas, op te nemen. Het album uit 2016 vermaakte met een aangename mix van soul, blues en jazz en imponeerde met de soulvolle stem van Ina Forsman.

Het is een stem die nog wat meer overtuigde op het wederom in Austin opgenomen Been Meaning To Tell You (2019), waarna Ina Forsman op All There Is (2022) liet horen dat ook Finse muzikanten weten hoe soul en blues moeten klinken. Na het prima live-album van vorig jaar keert Ina Forsman deze week terug met After Dark Hour.

De muzikante uit Helsinki, die momenteel Berlijn als thuisbasis heeft, is nog altijd nog niet wereldberoemd en laat op haar nieuwe album wederom horen hoe onterecht dat is. After Dark Hour volgt op een zware tijd waarin Ina Forsman te maken kreeg met een writer’s blok. Het is een blokkade die ze heeft overwonnen, want de persoonlijke songs op haar nieuwe album zijn van hoog niveau.

Het vierde studioalbum van Ina Forsman werd opgenomen in een ondergrondse studio in Finland, waarin de buitenwereld aan het zicht was onttrokken en er ook geen verbinding was met het Internet. Het zorgde ervoor dat Ina Forsman en de muzikanten die zijn te horen op het album zich volledig konden focussen op de muziek en dat hoor je.

After Dark Hour werd gemaakt met een aantal geweldige Finse muzikanten, die nog maar eens bewijzen dat authentiek klinkende soul niet alleen in het zuiden van de Verenigde Staten kan worden gemaakt. Op haar nieuwe album kiest Ina Forsman nog wat nadrukkelijker voor de soulmuziek en dan vooral de soulmuziek zoals die ook in de jaren 60 en 70 werd gemaakt.

De muzikanten op het album spelen de pannen van het dak in de meer ingetogen soulsongs en in de wat meer uptempo soulsongs met een vleugje Motown en wat klinkt dat lekker. De broeierige soul op het album slaat zich als een warme deken om je heen, waarna je verpletterd wordt door de weergaloze stem van Ina Forsman.

De Finse muzikante zong op haar vorige albums al de sterren van de hemel, maar op After Dark Hour doet ze er nog een schepje bovenop. In de wat door Motown geïnspireerde songs hoor je wat van Amy Winehouse, maar het mooist zijn wat mij betreft de slepende soulballads waarin ze zang bijna buitenaards goed is en kippenvel met geen mogelijkheid is te voorkomen. In de akoestische slottrack horen we weer een andere kant van Ina Forsman en ook dat is prachtig.

Het is moeilijk te geloven dat een zangeres van het kaliber van Ina Forsman nog altijd zo onbekend is en het feit dat het nieuwe album niet eens wordt genoemd in de meeste releaselijsten is geen goed teken. Ook After Dark Hour is echter weer een fantastisch album van de Finse zangeres die de lat in vocaal opzicht nog een stukje hoger legt en echt tien klassen beter is dan de meeste andere soulzangeressen van het moment. Ga dat horen!

Erwin Zijleman