Barqoue pop made a comeback in The Netherlands when Jacco Gardner released his debut album Cabinet of Curiosities in 2013. Singer Tamara Woestenburg's 2010 EP was labeled as a jazz record when it came out,but in hindsight all the elements for her next move were already in place. Her full-length The Colony, produced by Kramer (Low, Sufjan Stevens), finds her exploring kaleidoscopic psychedelic pop in Pink-Eyed Soul, with double-tracked vocals and old school organ, Laurel Canyon folk in Take Me, triphop while riding on the NYC Subway and taking a swipe at the end of the American Dream in Declaration Of Dependence - it's doubtful that the Donald will give a fuck about a Dutch artist singing a protest song, but hey, at least she tried.
The Talking Head's cover Heaven ("a place where nothing ever happens") could well be taken as another warning sign. Woestenburg's music takes a bow at her predecessors, but she is all about here and now. She cares and like a troubadour of old she uses her music to tell tales that might seem old, but whose underlying themes honour the adage that history might repeat itself.
