Venus In Flames
Intimacy | Safe Haven Records/MMS (Vertrieb: Alive AG) | Album | 17.09.2010
Album
"Notes Of Tenderness" - das Debüt von Venus In Flames aus Belgien - durften wir schon im Jahre 2004 promoten. Gerne erinnert sich auch heute noch Fans und Kritiker an so tolle Songs wie „Better Man“, „Just Another Day“ oder „Cynthias´s Gone“. Sänger Jan de Campenaere schuf zusammen mit Gert und Sarah Bettens (und weiteren Musikern) ein Werk, das als ""die besseren Coldplay"" von der Presse geadelt wurde. Yep, das ging schon in die richtige Richtung. Der Kontakt zu Jan riss glücklicherweise nie ab. Und so trafen wir ihn im Frühjahr auf Tour in Deutschland als Support von K’s Choice und wurden uns schnell über eine erneute Zusammenarbeit einig, so dass wir Euch nun endlich sein neues Album präsentieren können. Wir schwärmen erneut – Ihr hoffentlich bald auch! Venus In Flames – Intimacy Jan De Campenaere, one of the best belgian singer-songwriters, went through some strange and troubling times in the two years leading up to this magnificent album. It was an emotional rollercoaster, from the birth of his first son to the death of his well-beloved grandmother with whom he grew up. On top of that, relationships all around him started falling apart. And finally: he broke up with his record label and management. He made a clean break and started his own Safe Haven Records label: named after one of his first singles ever, and saying loud and clear what the new label stands for, a safe haven for his music. He started writing new songs, day in, day out, just until he had a collection of about 25 songs. Songs about life, love and death, about what makes you and breaks you, about what lets you breath and what suffocates you. Sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking. But what about the music? It was time for a new start! After the more poppy album “Notes Of Tenderness” and the more rocky “Shadowlands” album (producer David Du Pré/Arid), Jan went back to the roots on this self-produced album. His voice, his acoustic guitar, and his songs was all he needed. This results in a more naked, acoustic sound, intimate, warm and vibrant. His songs remind you of old legends like Neil Young, Tom Waits or Joni Mitchell, or more contemperary artists like Feist, Wilco or Bon Iver. For the recording of this album, Jan went looking for new locations to get that new sound. He found an empty church where they put up a studio and laid down the tracks. For overdubs he rented a house in the countryside. He got the help from the finest musicians around in Belgium, guys playing with Novastar, dEUS, TheGoFind, Admiral Freebee, Gabriel Rios etc. Neeka, a great female singer-songwriter, added some stunning vocal arrangements that give you goosebumps without a doubt. Far away from all the crazy and hectic daily life, they recorded and finished the songs until they were just about perfect. Finally, Annelies Verbeke, a superb and celebrated writer, known from the book ‘Schlaf!’, wrote 11 ‘snapshots in proze’: intimate and autobiographical short stories that are added in the booklet of the album. They can be seen as little answers to the songs Jan wrote. It’s a rare combination of music and literature in contemporary pop music. Not to be missed! Once this album got released in Belgium and Holland, the press was all over it, praising it with nothing but four star reviews in all leading newspapers and magazines. First single ‘Hanging On’ got massive airplay on all the biggest radiostations, climbing the charts up to number 3! Venus In Flames enrolled on a big tour of clubs and festivals, mainly in Benelux. Milow, that other well-known Belgian singer-songwriter, loved it also and asked Jan to go along with him on a sold-out tour through Holland which resulted in 12 extatic evenings in front of 2000 people. Later on, K’s Choice heard about the album and asked Jan to join them on their sold-out tour in France, Germany and Luxemburg. Playing solo or with his band, with every concert big or small, more and more musiclovers get to know Venus In Flames and become a fan. Well, just listen to the album and you’ll see what we’re talking about! Thanks! Safe Haven Records
Homepage
Fotos
Cover
Video