LIJO: "Love, Please" video

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO has unveiled a video for Love, Please, a track from her The Pleasures Of Self Deception album: "Her knack of combining skewed rhythms with her impressive vocal range make [it] an album that unfolds gradually, showing its colours in a different light after each listen."

LIJO: The Pleasures Of Self Deception

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO dives into both the harsh and imagined realities of being in a relationship on her first full-length The Pleasures Of Self Deception. Feelings can be deceptive and the need to be taken seriously or loved or both can get in the way of staying true to yourself. The repetition of the pleading "I got my hands dirty for you" in Devils In Details says it all. Having one's hopes up against all odds often turns into a grueling experience, but finally facing the facts can be truly liberating - with the anthemic I Want Out serving as both an outcry for relief and a cathartic feeling of regained freedom.

Her knack of combining skewed rhythms with her impressive vocal range make The Pleasures Of Self Deception an album that unfolds gradually, showing its colours in a different light after each listen. Recommended if you like Kate Bush channeling PJ Harvey (or vice versa). She is Crazily Sane indeed in her descriptions of the things that people are trying to put up with, until they no longer don't.

LIJO: "Devils In Details" video

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO has unveiled a video for her latest single Devils In Details: "Her melodies are never straightforward, but nevertheless quite accesible. It is only after repeated listens that the complexity comes to fore, a musical maze that shows it colours with some trepidation".

LIJO: Devils In Details

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO explores the outer regions of danceable electronics as the backing for her lush vocal delivery on her new single Devils In Details, a song her struggle about the meaning of success, both professionally and personally.

Her melodies are never straightforward, but nevertheless quite accesible. It is only after repeated listens that the complexity comes to fore, a musical maze that shows it colours with some trepidation.

LIJO: Bee Suits

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO goes through hills and valleys on her new single Bee Suits. Being pigeonholed can be a pain and she decided that she had to come up with a song that frees her from the descriptions and labels for her art.

The bee suit fits her like a glove: it's stylish, but it can sting too if need be. She picks the perspective of an outsider, who is both surprised and confused about what people are doing with their lives, hopping from a menial task to an appointment to work to buying stuff in a way that does seem to make much sense.

LIJO: "Spell" a cappela live video

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO celebrates the one-year anniversary of her single Spell by sharing an a cappela version that was recorded live @ Theaterhuis de Berenkuil in Utrecht. She was joined by the voices of Desirée Coumans, Shanna Nicó, Marlon Penn, Mirthe de Jonge, Femke Bun, and Siebe Palmen. The video was filmed by Jesse Immanuel Bom.

» thisislijo.com

HCTF review of Spell.

LIJO: in the studio again + tour dates

photo: Mirel Masic

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO is back in the studio working on new material. She needed a break, but is ready to create again, as well going on stage for a couple of intimate live shows.

LIJO: "I Want Out" video

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO has posted a video for her latest single I Want Out: "It's an empowering song for the powerless, alternating between frantic harsh and gentle synths. She is even contemplating the use violence to put a stop to it. If Kate Bush would have released her The Dreaming album in 2022, it could have sounded like this". The clip was made by Desirée Coumans.

LIJO: I Want Out

photo: Desirée Coumans

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO is trying to free herself on her new single, I Want Out. It's an empowering song for the powerless, alternating between frantic harsh and gentle synths. She is even contemplating the use violence to put a stop to it. If Kate Bush would have released her The Dreaming album in 2022, it could have sounded like this.

LIJO: "Spell" video

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO has unveiled a video for her latest single Spell: "Using her voice as the main instrument, with just a few blink-and-you'll-miss-them synth parts, the hurt and grief take center stage". The clip was made by Desirée Coumans.

LIJO: Spell

photo: Desirée Coumans

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO sings about a breakup that left her in a dark place on her new single, the sparse Spell. Using her voice as the main instrument, with just a few blink-and-you'll-miss-them synth parts, the hurt and grief take center stage.

Amimea: For Granted

Dutch avant-pop artist LIJO goes back to her first love as a musician: the piano. This change of style and mood deserves a new name and she picked Amimea as the stage name for her debut as a neo-classical composer and performer. The tracks on For Granted were laid down during a 24 hour recording frenzy in the first weekend of the lockdown in early 2020. Her touch is firm, as if she is trying to get a grip on things when the world grinded to a halt. If anything, she won't allow the pandemic to stop her from creating.

The keywords for her composititions are elegance and subtlety. She leds the music lead her, exploring motifs and inserting small runs of notes that fit seamlessly. The music took her by surprise, but it looks that this side project will become her main outlet for the near future, as she is already working on a second album. Recommended if you like Ella van der Woude and Lavalu.

LIJO: "Dog Eyes" video

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO has unveiled a video for her latest single, Dog Eyes: "The anxiety is captured in short bursts of electronics and an upbeat rhythm track, as a means to feel safe amidst all the little things that bug her". The clip was made by Desirée Coumans, using every hair dryer she could get her hands on.

LIJO: Dog Eyes

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO discusses the fear of missing out in relationships and life in general on her new single, Dog Eyes. The anxiety is captured in short bursts of electronics and an upbeat rhythm track, as a means to feel safe amidst all the little things that bug her: "I lost my keys // Two times this week // I lost my cash to cigarette machines // I lost my appetite to TV screens // I lost my sleep to the party scene".

LIJO: "Future Memory" video

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO has unveiled a video for her latest single, Future Memory: "a controlled clash of staccato vocals and chopped percussion". The clip was made by Desirée Coumans.

LIJO: Future Memory

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO refuses to settle for less on her new single Future Memory, a controlled clash of staccato vocals and chopped percussion. The backing vocals are a bit more fluid, making this hectic, danceable track a study of contrasts. It has an eighties vibe, with 21st century tidbits sprinkled on top.

Pocket Knife Army + LIJO: shows in Gouda, Ede & Helmond

Dutch avant-electro pop acts (and label mates) Pocket Knife Army and LIJO join forces again for a couple of shows. Both acts love to take risks and are always looking for an opportunity to create something special.

Live dates:

• 10/08 Gouda @ So What!
• 10/22 Ede @ Astrant
• 01/29 Helmond @ Muziekcafe Helmond

LIJO: Glasshouse City

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO has been lying low for awhile, but she comes out swinging with Glasshouse City, a mesmerizing excursion through stacked synths, trembling beats, and washes of cello provided by Mirthe de Jonge. It's dark and intense, and the feeling of being an outsider looking in is almost palpable.

Pocket Knife Army + LIJO: shows in Dordrecht and Gouda

Dutch avant-electro pop acts (and label mates) Pocket Knife Army and LIJO join forces again for shows @ Door in Dordrecht on August 7 and @ So What! in Gouda on November 6 (this is the new date for March 27 gig that got cancelled). Both acts love to take risks and are always looking for something out of the ordinary.

LIJO: Soopfest 2020 Dragon Soop Virtual Festival live video

Dutch avant-pop singer LIJO performed with cello player Mirthe de Jonge at the Soopfest 2020 Dragon Soop Virtual Festival. No audience for obvious reasi=ons, but they managed to make it sound intense and engaging.

» thisislijo.com