The Dutch singer Meau has already proven that she can sound lovely. The question is: does she also have spunk? The lovely style was evident on the debut single that became a super hit: ‘Dat Heb Jij Done’, where she throws the shards of a relationship in the face of an ex, accompanied by austere guitar strumming.
In the period after her breakthrough, Meau showed that musicality flows naturally through her songs. The live performances were balanced and nuanced, with the band members laying subtle accents and Meau, although still young, already self-confidently taking center stage. Meanwhile, about a year and a half after that first hit, her debut album has been released, just at the start of her second busy festival summer.
At 22, for her age (she is now 23), Meau opts for the same genre as on the first single. Most of the songs are in singer-songwriter style: meandering melodies with a catchy twist now and then, with Meau’s voice sensitive, delicate and clear in the foreground. As a result, her lyrics get a lot of attention. They are personal, sometimes brooding, but also ‘open’ and pleasantly unpretentious.
In ‘Back In My Arms’ she expresses her confusion beautifully: ‘My head is a bit upset / Seems to have forgotten my goal again / With a different answer every hour’.
The pit is sometimes absent. ‘Keep Driving’ is a languid ode to lonely car rides and ‘Unreachable’ sounds a bit drawling, despite the beautifully smoldering steel guitar. But songs like ‘Proosten’ and ‘Als Jij Maar Bij Me Bent’ show: Meau makes special what seems everyday. And that makes Meau special.