Roxeanne Hazes proves her class

Anyone who takes a look at the audience in Haarlem, it is immediately clear that Roxeanne Hazes appeals to a new, different audience than her surname suggests. In recent years she has taken a bold musical direction.

Her club tour is off to a flying start. The pace is good from the first second. “Finally, after six years, I’m going to play new songs again,” she shouts to the audience. A decent show follows. “Are we a bit warm?” she says after her first songs.

“Basically I write songs for myself to write things down and process them,” she explains. They are all songs that focus on the life of a young woman. Her music is contemporary (electro) pop with appropriate musical arrangements and accessible melody lines. With personal texts from a self-confident woman in which she leaves little to the imagination.

Monument of Dutch pop music

We see that woman on stage. The first highlight is the song Bonnie & Clyde . Then comes the sensitive part What do I have to do : a beautiful song, it comes from the depths of her heart. The tone has been set. Just for a moment, with the song Broken , she has lost the text. She jokes about it.

There is no room for the painful legal battle with her mother. Here is a young woman who has the qualities to become a monument of Dutch pop music.

A whole host of Dutch pop classics in the making are reviewed. And just when you think the show could use some spice, Hazes strikes and starts the song Opportunity in. It is the least listened to song from her new album on Spotify, but during the club tour it does everything the concert needs at that moment. The room comes alive. We see guitarist and pedal king Arthur Stoker going wild.

A party with its own sound

The fans get the final they deserve. Top favorite No sorry saves Roxeanne as one of the last songs. This song is about gaslighting , she wrote it together with the Groningen rapper Kraantje Pappie. She walks into the hall and excites the audience, while her band – which she affectionately calls ‘my fantastic boys’ – continues to swing. A party is taking place.

Roxeanne Hazes brings a completely unique sound. In terms of musical style, she has run away from her father’s shadow. With her songs she really adds something to the Dutch music scene. But she doesn’t forget the sob. During the day Dear Singers in which she participated in 2022, she showed this, among other things, with her vulnerable version of Someday will never come again a song by Jaap Reesema.

Hazes’ music deserves a larger audience. She received an Edison for her first album in 2017. Her second album, in which Tjeerd Oosterhuis played an important role, was released at the end of last year. There are once again gems with eternal value.

On the way to a new Edison

It is therefore not surprising that Time passes beautiful things doing in turn resulted in a nomination for a new Edison. We will know next month whether that nomination will be awarded. “But that nomination is nothing compared to you here,” cheers the 31-year-old singer.

Roxeanne Hazes comes into her own in small rooms. Full of conviction, and with matching braids, it proves Rox her class. It’s a matter of continuing to play. She’ll be just fine.