A due anni esatti da Ha Ha Heartbreak, Warhaus, il progetto solista di Maarten Devoldere, torna con un nuovo album Karaoke Moon, in uscita il 22 novembre per Play It Again Sam.
Devoldere condivide anche un primo estratto del disco, l'incandescente “Where The Names Are Real”. Al ritmo di un'inquietante chitarra acustica, sostenuta da un'ammaliante voce di sottofondo, sembra che Maarten Devoldere sia incerto se dirlo o meno. Ma meno di un minuto dopo, non riesce più a trattenersi: “Babe, I'm in love with you!” esclama soavemente, nel modo tipico di un vero crooner. Poi la batteria inizia a oscillare, il tipico basso percussivo di Warhaus entra in scena e l'ascoltatore si lascia trasportare dai discorsi sensuali di Devoldere che canta il suo amore.
Devoldere ha una voce che, più che mai, domina questo album e ci terrebbe incollati alle casse anche se stesse leggendo un elenco telefonico. Fortunatamente, non è quello che sta facendo. Invece, sentiamo: “I promise you no dirty tricks”. Per un attimo ci si chiede: ci si può fidare di quest'uomo? Ma non si ha altra scelta che credergli. Gli archi si uniscono, un organo si insinua nel nostro cervello e i cori di sottofondo si alzano sempre più in alto.
Devoldere aveva più di 50 canzoni sullo scaffale dopo due anni di lavoro disciplinato e monacale. E cosa ha detto il produttore dopo che ha presentato quei demo? Mah. Puoi fare di meglio, Maarten. Più profondo, più sorprendente, più curioso. Dieci anni fa non l'avrebbe accettato. Ma con il tempo, Devoldere ha imparato che fidarsi delle persone giuste paga. E per persone giuste intende Jasper Maekelberg. Queste anime gemelle della musica hanno trascorso nove mesi insieme in uno studio in soffitta a Bruges. Il risultato è l'album più emozionante di Warhaus.
Take the instrumental surprise ‘Jacky N.’, for example. A simple piano motif lifted to wonderous heights by classical pianist Julien Libeer, supported by a humming male choir and dreamy violins—it's just waiting for a matching feature film. In ‘What Goes Up’, you think you're dealing with a toxic dandy, whispering conspiratorially into his prey's ear. A sultry guitar strolls by, hands in pockets, on a bed of electronics. A group of strings peeks around the corner. But along the way the listener begs the question: are we listening to a confident macho or an impotent lover? “Down down, up, up,” Sylvie Kreusch sings along teasingly. It’s not the only track on Karaoke Moon where Warhaus plays with our modern views on masculinity. With subtle humor, Devoldere smoothly sidesteps discomfort, poking fun at himself and his kind with double-edged wit.
“I’m serving as your poet / among the other frauds,” he sings in ‘I Want More’. And later, in the slightly epic ‘Jim Morisson’, he scrutinizes the (typical?) male resistance to growing up (Peter Pan syndrome, anyone?) with sardonic pleasure. “It takes a man to love you, baby!” he sings with a soulful male choir. But who is he talking about? Us? Himself?
This way, Karaoke Moon connects passion and playfulness with a mysterious intensity. In ‘Zero One Code’, the German novelist Herman Hesse makes an appearance, accompanied by wailing horns and a resounding bell that recalls ‘Red Right Hand’ by Nick Cave. In ‘Hands of a Clock’, Devoldere conjures poetic imagery until he joins the choir in the richly orchestrated finale, where it gloriously merges with a piano melody. “I’m a child of the day and a child of the night / but they broke up and fought over me,” he muses. “So the stars and the moon are the part only you get to see.”
Yes, quite often it seems like Devoldere is shadowboxing with his own thoughts, juggling the concoctions of his subconscious. But dark soul-searching is not all of it. Evidence of this is the stunner ‘No Surprise’, initially a pumping disco track in the demo version, but transformed by producer Jasper Maekelberg into a sultry nightclub tune where attentive listeners will spot the hip-swaying shadow of Sade, complete with playful organ-driven singalong choruses, once again featuring Sylvie Kreusch in a leading role, singing seemingly innocently: “O, no surprise you took my keys.” Only a cold fish could sit through ‘No Surprise’ without nonchalantly snapping their fingers to it.
In any case, the singalong factor is high. Maybe not in Devoldere’s parlando, which sometimes borders on rap, but in the catchy melodies those rants are interspersed with—a dynamic you often hear in hip-hop but rarely as swinging as here, supported by falsetto choirs; that can be as expansive as staccato, as sexy, or provocative. It’s these clever—and often humorous—contrasts that turn Karaoke Moon into an album that grows with each listen, seducing the listener to delve deeper, layer after layer, line by line, into Warhaus’ unique universe. And yes, it’s an extraordinarily interesting place to be.
Karaoke Moon Tracklist:
1. Where The Names Are Real
2. No Surprise
3. What Goes Up
4. Jim Morrison
5. Jacky N
6. Zero One Code
7. Hands Of A Clock
8. The Winning Numbers
9. I Want More
10. Emely
Ilaria
Devoldere condivide anche un primo estratto del disco, l'incandescente “Where The Names Are Real”. Al ritmo di un'inquietante chitarra acustica, sostenuta da un'ammaliante voce di sottofondo, sembra che Maarten Devoldere sia incerto se dirlo o meno. Ma meno di un minuto dopo, non riesce più a trattenersi: “Babe, I'm in love with you!” esclama soavemente, nel modo tipico di un vero crooner. Poi la batteria inizia a oscillare, il tipico basso percussivo di Warhaus entra in scena e l'ascoltatore si lascia trasportare dai discorsi sensuali di Devoldere che canta il suo amore.
Devoldere ha una voce che, più che mai, domina questo album e ci terrebbe incollati alle casse anche se stesse leggendo un elenco telefonico. Fortunatamente, non è quello che sta facendo. Invece, sentiamo: “I promise you no dirty tricks”. Per un attimo ci si chiede: ci si può fidare di quest'uomo? Ma non si ha altra scelta che credergli. Gli archi si uniscono, un organo si insinua nel nostro cervello e i cori di sottofondo si alzano sempre più in alto.
Devoldere aveva più di 50 canzoni sullo scaffale dopo due anni di lavoro disciplinato e monacale. E cosa ha detto il produttore dopo che ha presentato quei demo? Mah. Puoi fare di meglio, Maarten. Più profondo, più sorprendente, più curioso. Dieci anni fa non l'avrebbe accettato. Ma con il tempo, Devoldere ha imparato che fidarsi delle persone giuste paga. E per persone giuste intende Jasper Maekelberg. Queste anime gemelle della musica hanno trascorso nove mesi insieme in uno studio in soffitta a Bruges. Il risultato è l'album più emozionante di Warhaus.
Take the instrumental surprise ‘Jacky N.’, for example. A simple piano motif lifted to wonderous heights by classical pianist Julien Libeer, supported by a humming male choir and dreamy violins—it's just waiting for a matching feature film. In ‘What Goes Up’, you think you're dealing with a toxic dandy, whispering conspiratorially into his prey's ear. A sultry guitar strolls by, hands in pockets, on a bed of electronics. A group of strings peeks around the corner. But along the way the listener begs the question: are we listening to a confident macho or an impotent lover? “Down down, up, up,” Sylvie Kreusch sings along teasingly. It’s not the only track on Karaoke Moon where Warhaus plays with our modern views on masculinity. With subtle humor, Devoldere smoothly sidesteps discomfort, poking fun at himself and his kind with double-edged wit.
“I’m serving as your poet / among the other frauds,” he sings in ‘I Want More’. And later, in the slightly epic ‘Jim Morisson’, he scrutinizes the (typical?) male resistance to growing up (Peter Pan syndrome, anyone?) with sardonic pleasure. “It takes a man to love you, baby!” he sings with a soulful male choir. But who is he talking about? Us? Himself?
This way, Karaoke Moon connects passion and playfulness with a mysterious intensity. In ‘Zero One Code’, the German novelist Herman Hesse makes an appearance, accompanied by wailing horns and a resounding bell that recalls ‘Red Right Hand’ by Nick Cave. In ‘Hands of a Clock’, Devoldere conjures poetic imagery until he joins the choir in the richly orchestrated finale, where it gloriously merges with a piano melody. “I’m a child of the day and a child of the night / but they broke up and fought over me,” he muses. “So the stars and the moon are the part only you get to see.”
Yes, quite often it seems like Devoldere is shadowboxing with his own thoughts, juggling the concoctions of his subconscious. But dark soul-searching is not all of it. Evidence of this is the stunner ‘No Surprise’, initially a pumping disco track in the demo version, but transformed by producer Jasper Maekelberg into a sultry nightclub tune where attentive listeners will spot the hip-swaying shadow of Sade, complete with playful organ-driven singalong choruses, once again featuring Sylvie Kreusch in a leading role, singing seemingly innocently: “O, no surprise you took my keys.” Only a cold fish could sit through ‘No Surprise’ without nonchalantly snapping their fingers to it.
In any case, the singalong factor is high. Maybe not in Devoldere’s parlando, which sometimes borders on rap, but in the catchy melodies those rants are interspersed with—a dynamic you often hear in hip-hop but rarely as swinging as here, supported by falsetto choirs; that can be as expansive as staccato, as sexy, or provocative. It’s these clever—and often humorous—contrasts that turn Karaoke Moon into an album that grows with each listen, seducing the listener to delve deeper, layer after layer, line by line, into Warhaus’ unique universe. And yes, it’s an extraordinarily interesting place to be.
Karaoke Moon Tracklist:
1. Where The Names Are Real
2. No Surprise
3. What Goes Up
4. Jim Morrison
5. Jacky N
6. Zero One Code
7. Hands Of A Clock
8. The Winning Numbers
9. I Want More
10. Emely
Ilaria
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