ESNS goes digital this year. The digital showcase festival can be followed completely free of charge via esns.nl.
13 renowned and up and coming Dutch artists play digital Eurosonic from Wednesday 13th - Friday 15th. On Saturday 16th, during Noorderslag, another 40 Dutch artists take the digital stage. See the full Noorderslag lineup here.
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 13TH
QUEENS PLEASURE
Brash, semi-psychedelic four-headed garagerock crew. Driven by a cruel and poetic yearning for love, the Amsterdam band sounds like a mix of Dandy Warhols and Blur, with the power of The Ramones and the melancholy of The Smiths.
BENNY SINGS
Benny Sings released his sixth album City Pop in February 2019 on Stones Throw, joining a roster of artists making music at the intersection of jazz, AOR, R&B and soul. Benny put out another charmer in October: ‘Rolled Up’, a duet with Mac DeMarco.
MEETSYSTEEM
Meetsysteem is the mystical pop outfit of Amsterdam based Ricky Cherim. His debut album Geen Signaal goes down countless musical paths and creates an immersive world of poppy electronica. Fresh out of isolation he dropped his second album Cr:GO in November on Rotterdam label Nous’klaer.
YĪN YĪN
YĪN YĪN blend traditional Asian folk songs with modern sounds, and refine them with disco funk and psych-rock from the 70s. Debut album The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers contains a remarkable set of songs mixing world music, disco, funk and electronic sounds. Live YĪN YĪN is a 5-piece band rocking European venues with the ultimate Thai psychedelic funk party.
THURSDAY JANUARY 14TH
NANA ADJOA
Singer-songwriter Nana Adjoa is a sonic explorer, armed with a deft poeticism and a fierce sense of musicianship. On Adjoa’s debut full-length, Big Dreaming Ants (September 2020), the Amsterdam based multi-instrumentalist finds herself contemplating such profound themes as identity, love, and our modern global society.
EEFJE DE VISSER
‘Bittersweet’ would be a good word to describe the lushly produced synth pop of Eefje de Visser. As it happens, that is the title of the more than excellent fourth album of the Dutch singer-songwriter. Never before has her music sounded this full of longing, yet firmly rooted in the present. The album has been heralded as Album of the Year by several leading Dutch music media.
RATS ON RAFTS
Rats on Rafts is an ever evolving group, who swear spiritual allegiance to Rotterdam's New Wave and Punk scenes with one proviso: the weirder the better. From their catchy new wave debut, into the dark psychedelic noise on their second album, they are now about to release Chapter 3. The third album is preceded by single ‘Tokyo Music Experience’, a post-punk meets krautrock ode to touring Japan with Franz Ferdinand.
BLANKS
Think of smooth pop music, happiness and (over)-excited yelling, and you've got Blanks. He rapidly build an international fanbase through his YouTube channel, now attracting over 1 million subscribers. His 'style swaps' have led to collaborations with DJ Armin Van Buuren, and Ariana Grande gave him love for ‘Thank U, Next.’ In August Blanks put out Cheap Sodas and Ice Cream Kisses, a compilation of all those cheerful songs of his.
ALTIN GÜN
The renowned live act has played strings of sold-out shows on three continents, and Yol, their third album in as many years - following their GRAMMY nominated album Gece - excitedly continues that trend, while also digging deep to unveil a new palette of sonic surprises, widening their exploration of Anatolian rock and Turkish psychedelic folk to include dreamy '80s synth-pop and dancefloor excursions.
FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH
DONNA BLUE
Each other's muse, lover and band member. Danique and Bart, the creative duo behind Donna Blue, play sultry indie pop influenced by sixties yé yé, French chansons, David Lynch movies and old Hollywood romance. Perfect for practicing those slow dance moves. After seducing the Netherlands, they are now steadily conquering the rest of Europe.
EUT
Driven by an uncompromising attitude and a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, EUT is anything but your textbook pop band. The Amsterdam five-piece brings fresh energy to 90s-inspired sounds, drawing on influences from Pixies, Blur, Weezer, Hole to Wilco, Beck and art rock icon St. Vincent.
PERSONAL TRAINER
Personal Trainer is an Amsterdam based indie rock band formed by an ever changing group of friends from bands like Canshaker Pi and Pip Blom. They have been described as “a manic indie rock orchestra that taps into the wayward spirits of Car Seat Headrest, The Fall and LCD Soundsystem”. Shows are played with up to ten members and in an intuitive but ever tighter jam spirit.
ARP FRIQUE & FAMILY
After releasing an EP on Rush Hour Music and his exotic and super funky debut album Welcome To The Colorful World Of Arp Frique on his own imprint, Arp Frique returned with a very different release: Radio Verde, a compilation of rare Cape-Verdean dancefloor diamonds compiled by Arp Frique & Family-band member Americo Brito.