VANTOL, TIM - Better Days (Sealed) (CD)

Mustard yellow vinyl, limited to 400 copies. On May 22nd Tim Vantol will release his new album "Better Days". It's a record that sounds like you've known the songs all your life. However, if you want to visit the Dutchman in person, you will run into far more difficult territory. As he lives at the foot of the Alps in the German town of Berchtesgaden, some 800 meters above sea level and quite a world away from hectic city life. It's "next level Bavaria", as the singer calls it. Last winter he was welcomed by three meters of snow outside his front door, but Tim Vantol nonetheless feels right at home. You can hear it in his music, and perhaps his friendly Bavarian neighbours may have had something to do with that. The music on "Better Days" is "next level" as well. The latest in a string of pearls the Dutchman has been threading for his dedicated fans over the last eleven years. Even so, the new record is sure to be the musician's most personal work yet. "My songs are always written from my own perspective, but at the same time I want them to be as open as possible", he says. And surely enough, opener "No More" features one of those typical Tim-Vantol-lines right away. "Brand new directions are waiting for you," he sings in that distinctive voice that sounds like it's tattooing your soul.