Flowing across the lush, flat plains of The Netherlands and coming across the sea, an almighty wave of Dutch talent. From electro and pop to punk, soul, hip-hop and everything in between, Holland sounds pretty amazing at the moment.
To give you a real taste of these incredible artists, you need to check out the Dutch Impact showcase at The Great Escape next week, held at The Komedia in Brighton from 12pm-4pm, don't miss the chance to experience the eclectic mix of sounds that comes from Pink Oculus, Tim Vantol, Klyne, PAUW and Amber Arcades.
To really get under the skin of this remarkable wave of Dutch talent, here are 11 brilliant bands and artists from Holland that you need in your life.
1. Amber Arcades
By day, she works in human rights law, but by night, she becomes something altogether otherworldly. An angelic and soft voice, met with a wisdom far beyond her years, soars over a thick haze of pop-noir, electro, krautrock and and a hint of shoegaze, creating a propulsive soundtrack charging boldly onwards into the future. Utterly bewitching.
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2. Causes
An aching, elegiac towering wall of sound, built from the more sublime and subtle elements to make for something pretty complete. With the sultry and sombre tones of The xx, but with The 1975's soulful compulsion in the vocals that begs to explode into arenas.
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3. Klyne
Seductive sounds ideal for night time listening - artfully crafted anthems where the sexy meets the menacing, in a place where The Weeknd meets Jamie Woon and HONNE.
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4. PAUW
A keleidoscope of wide-eyed prog-pop and neo-psych. Perfect music for a summer of love, making the flat wet lands of Holland seem all the brighter. For fans of Temples and old-school Pink Floyd.
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5. Pink Oculus
One side of her is a fearless flow of no-bullshit streetwise smarts and 21st Century hip-hop poetry designed to tear up the dancefloor, the other is a neo-soul voice to make the heart flutter and the soul melt.
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6. Tim Vantol
A punk spirit at heart, but delivered with a folk-rooted honesty and campfire anthemics. Imagine Bad Ideas and Gaslight being performed by Billy Bragg or Frank Turner, albeit with a voice and fire of all his own. Real grit never sounded so good.
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7. De Staat
A weird and wonderful carnival of dark but playfully experimental alt-rock and twisted electro. But all their idiosyncrasies, there's something so universally loveable about them - they've that same charm that you find around the fringes of dEUS and Beck. They're currently on tour with Muse.
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8. DeWolff
Get on board this rollicking runaway train of dirty blues, insane psych and classic rock. Destination: One hell of a good time.
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9. John Coffey
Socially conscious and sonically brutal, John Coffey are a blazing beacon of hope for fans of post-hardcore. This is punk done properly.
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10. My Baby
Sensual and sumptuous pop-noir with an electro-tinge and a flourish or two of classic rock, My Baby's sound is dreamy and easy to get lost in, but they punch through the haze with a hard-edged sense of melodrama.
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11. Birth Of Joy
Looking for a band that blend the scorched desert sounds of stoner with some stratospheric and psychedelic space sounds? Then you need Birth Of Joy in your life. Also, their blistering live show will tear your face off.
