Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? Loupe

This Sunday I reviewed a single by a band called Stella. Guitarist? Jasmine van der Waals. Yes, I figured a single by another band. Hadn't I reviewed Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? weeks if not months ago? Or, so I thought. Then I found that the album that I have been able to play for quite some time already, was released on the day of writing the Stella review.

Time to make amends, as Loupe has released a beautiful album that the world should learn about. Now I understand that Spotify took care of that with an add on Times Square in NYC?!

Loupe rose like a phoenix from Dakota's ashes with a new singer/keyboard player. A young woman who looks and sounds as if she could be 13 but is quite older in fact. Together they are making good on the promise of Dakota and then some more.

I'm sure that my comment with which I closed my review of Dakota's first and last album has not made a difference but I'm sure glad Annemarie, Jasmine and Lana acted upon it. Together with Julia Korthouwer they formed a new band and one that I dare to say is better than the former. The music on Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? is so much more balanced and effects serve the songs for 100% where it sometimes was the other way around in the past. Mind, I'm speaking of an album, 'Here's The 101 On How To Disappear', that ended in my top 10 of favourites in 2019!

But enough of the past. Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? is an album that is as indie as it is dreamy, brings in Pink Floyd at the time of 'Wish You Were Here' and can present a song as direct as it is floating on thin air. A combination of tight drumming, atmospheric guitar parts and a singer who is dreaming of other skies (thank you, T.H. White), like in 'I Keep Changing'. While underneath, around and underneath this basis all sorts of things are happening.

The band I always think of when hearing the term dreampop is Warpaint. (For Erwin Zijleman, often on this blog, it is Beach House.) For me there is a big difference with Loupe. The songs of Loupe are exactly that, a song with a head and tail, a strong melody and only then the band starts dreaming. I prefer this order of things to dreaming and perhaps a strong melody comes out of that. Loupe has the songs alright.

With Annemarie van den Born Loupe has an inventive drummer. Listen to all the different sort of rhythms that come by on this album. Lara Kooper's bass takes care of the deep end of the band, while finding the melody that supports the rhythm when the opening offers itself to here. With Jasmine van der Waals I would opt to state that Loupe has its own The Edge. She is a wide-ranging guitarist presenting atmospheric sounds, effects, subtle riffs and rocking solos. It's all there. And no, Loupe has not written a 'I Will Follow', 'Vertigo' or 'New Year's Day' (yet), it is the far more interesting band. I get through its album with ease and there's not a single U2 album able to claim that. Not even the greatest hits ones.

Musically Loupe hovers between music from the past and the present. The influences from 80s bands like U2 are there but so are the dreampop bands of the 10s.  What comes out in my opinion is a fairly unique sound and a great set of songs. Live they come across as well (Record Store Day Haarlem 2023) and I do hope to catch the band life in the not too far future. In fact, should Loupe want to come and play in one of our living room shows next year, it is more than welcome to do so. Let me now.

With Loupe NL has another band that should be able to cross the border and have success there. This is music that goes beyond the average Dutch band doing well. With Pip Blom and Personal Trainer my country has another band that could make it bigger and should.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Do You Ever Wonder What Comes Next? here:

https://thisisloupe.bandcamp.com/album/do-you-ever-wonder-what-comes-next