HUIJS, ETAN - The Secret Us (Sealed) (CD)

DIGIPAK.My name is Etan Huijs. Herewith my new album 'The Secret Us'. A record full of timeless influences from (especially) the country and folk. Hopefully it will please you and you want to write something about it! In any case, have fun listening! The musician from Venray had added this handwritten personal note to his new album on an A-4tje. A sympathetic gesture. Etan Huijs has his affairs in order. His previous albums gave him a well-filled touragenda, and also with "The Secret Us" the seed owners will make themselves heard. Especially after he won a public award earlier this year for The Most Beautiful Song (Little Bird). An incentive prize for younger singer-songwriters, which was founded in honour of the Brabant musician Ad van Meurs, who died last year. In my opinion, anyone who releases an album under their own management deserves a feather in their ass. So, Etan has already received one. Around the album title (The Secret Us), the beautiful cover design and the name of its creator (Someone) hangs an aura of secrecy. In short, even more feathers in the ass because this way you create extra attention. And when it turns out that "The Secret Us" is recorded in the Wild Verband studio of BJ Baartmans, is responsible for the production and played a whole range of instruments, this record really can't fail. Moreover, there is a last-minute deal concluded with Coast To Coast for distribution. The nine self-written songs and the short instrumental opener Forleikur draw you past based on acoustic instruments in a pleasant way. Where the material on his previous albums still had a predominantly subtle and subdued character, the pop songs on "The Secret Us" richly arranged and orchestrated with strings and wind instruments. Songs that are ingeniously and skilfully put together. Sometimes uptempo (The River's Flow, Noctural Overdrive), or with a melancholic undertone (Counterweight, Silhouette Dancer, Isaac and the Fallen Temple).