After being a solo artist for a couple of years Dutch indie musician Kim Janssen is now feeling comfortable in a band, Cape Sleep. Their debut album Video Days is a collection of short songs about classic themes like heartbreak, trying to connect and the perks of settling down.
As a lyricist Janssen is not afraid to bear his soul, but with a full band having his back the songs get an extra layer of intensity, with Leah Rye and Merit Visser workogn double shifts on backing vocals and creating swirling keyboard textures. Guest musician Remy van Kesteren added his versality on harp, once again proving that this instrument can be used in pop music. The Metropole Orchestra brought their A-game for closing track The Afternoons, which is both a joyous celebration and a melancholic reminiscing.
Video Days is filled with snapshots from everyday life. That might seem like an easy route to fill an album - write about you know and all that - but finding new ways to tell about it and create a happy-sad compositions to move the stories forward, is quite a challenge. Spoiler: they have passed with flying colours.
Cape Sleep:
Kim Janssen: guitar, vocals
Simon Levi: drums
Len Lucieer: electric guitar, pedalsteel
Leah Rye: keyboards, vocals
Franc Timmerman: bass, vocals
Merit Visser: keyboards, vocals
Video Days is released via Snowstar Records (vinyl, CD, digital).
Tracks:- Telephone
- Vienna in the Rain
- Boy Scout
- The Movers
- I Want To Be Your Friend
- Your House
- Cape Canaveral
- The Afternoons
- 02/23 Nobel, Leiden, Netherlands
- 03/10 Poppodium Hedon, Zwolle, Netherlands
- 03/14 Vessel 11, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- 03/15 De Helling, Utrecht, Netherlands
- 03/17 Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 04/16 Galao, Stuttgart, Germany *
- 04/17 Muzclub, Nürnberg, Germany *
- 04/18 MVZ_Wagner, Jena, Germany *
- 04/19 Molotow, Hamburg, Germany *
- 04/20 Kulturhaus Insel, Berlin, Germany *
- 04/22 FZW, Dortmund, Germany *
- 04/23 Schon Schön, Germany *
- 04/24 Lux, Hannover, Germany *
Supporting Loupe