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