Review Summary: An essential piece of modern Dutch popular music.
One of the most successful rock bands in their native Holland,
BLØF have been creating great music since the early 90’s. Formed in the province in Zeeland by vocalist/guitarist Paskal Jakobsen, keyboardist/guitarist Bas Kennis, bassist Peter Slager and drummer Henk Tjoonk, the group has continued with two different drummers, the now deceased Chris Götte and current player Norman Bonink. As opposed to most other (rock) bands from Holland, their lyrics, written and sung by Jakobsen, are not in English, but their native Dutch. This has made BLØF an essential group for the country. Even despite the language barrier, they’ve had some international success, perhaps most notably with the song
Holiday in Spain, a collaboration with their American friends
Counting Crows. In the Netherlands though, their success is unparalleled, and with good reason.
BLØF’s music is an accessible mix of pop and rock, strongly led by Jakobsen’s distinctive vocals and poetic lyrics. While these are of course incomprehensible for English-speaking audiences, the emotion conveyed by the singer is very strong; strong enough to make the music hit even foreign audiences. Jakobsen’s changes the tone and style of his vocals with perfect timing, and never does this excessively. He speaks each line with a certain determination that makes the group unique, and his vocals are complemented in the finest manner possible by the musicians backing him: Kennis’ subtle work behind the keys is easily the next vital component that makes BLØF’s sound, especially in the softer, often retrospective material. While Bonink’s drumming is to be credited as nothing more than standard-fare but effective, Slager proves, after closer listening, to be a very gifted bassist who is unfortunate to be only third in line, and contributes skilfully to the band’s sound.
In more recent years, particularly with their 2006 album
Umoja, BLØF have experimented with sounds coming from all over the world, and while this has been met with continued success, their peak period was from the late 90’s through the early 00’s, in which their sound grew considerably compared to their earlier albums. Records such as ‘99’s
Boven and ‘02’s
Blauwe Ruis were definitely high points for BLØF, spawning many of their classic songs, but their 2003 album
Omarm is doubtlessly their finest piece of work, culminating everything which they have learned in their past into a varied, emotional and determinded 66 minutes.
Omarm feels very accomplished; every line sung, every chord struck, every drum hit makes perfect sense. The atmosphere is considerably well thought-out and precise. The 7-minute opener
De Mooiste Verliezers is a perfect example of this. An atmospheric intro is soon accompanied by the first soft notes from the keyboard; the guitar joins in; the bass starts subtly rumbling; and then, the meaningful vocals complete the experience, after which the song slowly moves to a powerful climax. It’s not exactly like it hasn’t been done before in a similar manner, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a thing of beauty and awe. At these kinds of songs, BLØF is at its peak.
Luckily, it so happens that these kinds of songs are something not exactly sparse on
Omarm. The title track,
Dat Wij Dat Zijn,
Barcelona,
Bougainville and
In Het Volle Licht continue to be astounding moments of the brilliance that BLØF can conjure, and their simpler counterparts, the songs moving more towards rock, such as
Bijna Waar Ik Zijn Moet and
Onmogelijk Rood, may not be as emotionally effective, but create a necessary balance in the album. Kennis’ keyboards move away from the instrumental front seat and give their position to the guitars, which sound loud and true to their purpose, something which will particularly be appreciated by rock fans.
Balanced is perhaps the best word to describe Omarm with. A record that finds a good division between loud and sensitive; one that successfully incorporates all its players in a full sound, despite some standing out more than others; an album that will be fully appreciated by both fans of pop and rock, and
should be fully appreciated by foreign audiences. BLØF really hit their mark here, and if ever you’d be interested to know what our modern popular music might sound like, this is the place to find out.
