Renée

Unexpectedly, Renée (<a href="spotify:artist:4oPsvVmYV90ryTGgyskkbp" data-name="Marble Sounds">Marble Sounds</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2imYMaCI7CxN9tVnNyBuiB" data-name="Ansatz Der Maschine">Ansatz Der Maschine</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Y6vkDGLDtXRpLHPBR9lge" data-name="Winterslag">Winterslag</a>) took possession of our ears in 2012 with ‘Dum Dum Dum’ and ‘Little Soldier’. Consequence: raving reviews, a European tour in the footsteps of Isbells and Husky, and a truckload of expectations. The second album ‘Marching’, however, is taking Renée permanently away from the city limits, she leaves her acoustic guitar to the side and exchanges the fragile, whispering folk music for melancholic indie rock.

In contrast to her debut album ‘Extending Playground’, with ‘Marching’ the thirty-year-old singer/songwriter from Sijsele chooses a range of different styles. From the slightly electronic ‘Out of Order’ across percussion animal ‘Is It Working’, to drifting rocker ‘You Were Here’: they are bastard children from the same foster family as <a href="spotify:artist:6CWTBjOJK75cTE8Xv8u1kj" data-name="Feist">Feist</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:12VaqyEhgwDRuFfEqbnrpz" data-name="PJ Harvey">PJ Harvey</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6G7OerKc3eBO9sVkRNopFC" data-name="Cat Power">Cat Power</a>. All ten songs on ‘Marching’ started from a set pattern: drum rhythms. “The marching band idea had been around for a while”, says Renée, “I had a specific image in mind: first came the drums and vocal line, the rest followed later.”

‘Marching’ has the intensity of <a href="spotify:artist:4UXJsSlnKd7ltsrHebV79Q" data-name="Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds">Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds</a> in its pores, covered in a melody by <a href="spotify:artist:2mcNCn1qbZUQ3J9KHapUxj" data-name="The Dø">The Dø</a>. And even though lullaby ‘Dabdoe’ and rough diamond ‘Toasted’ seem to be worlds apart, it’s Renée’s voice that captivates the listener and takes them to her playing field. Renée is no longer the singer who hides in the lee. She went out marching.