The Editor’s pick of videos by some awfully talented people.
Belgian Ingenuity
The Belgian pop-rock band, Willow, burst onto the Euro scene in 2010, after taking third place and the audience award at Humo’s Rock Rally, a venerable rock contest in Belgium that has been crowning that nation’s ‘Next Big Thing’ since 1978. Rather than head directly to the studio, like others before them, the young band took its winnings on the road. According to their official website, they knew they were young and needed to mature their sound before committing it to vinyl. Their first album, “We The Young,” released in March 2012, reflects that journey, chronicling the process of — in the band’s words — “leaving your teenage years and getting hit in the face hard by the world of a grownup [sic].”
That step still looms large in the rearview mirror for the band members, all of whom are too young to remember the ’80s clearly. Nevertheless, they claim that decade as a primary influence on their sound, citing The Cure, The Police, and U2 as major influences. And behind the skinny jeans and Beber-hair, the tendency of those bands toward grand and sweeping gestures certainly makes a bold showing on the album. (Oh yeah, and the habit of singing in English.)
This video for the song “Sweater” — a classic breakup anthem — demonstrates something else about the millennial-generation pop-rockers, namely their ease with technologies old and new. The visible-magic trick of their projected world manages to be simultaneously immersive and blatantly transparent. Rather than break the dream, this DIY element adds another layer of enjoyment and speaks to the young makers who are both populating YouTube and reviving old handicrafts like knitting. RF loved this video and this album. We expect great things as they continue to mature.
The Band (click for more info)
- Tom Brewaeys on keys
- Pieter Dhaenens on bass
- Jonas Goddeeris on drums
- Vincent Buelens on a guitar
- Nils Goddeeris on another guitar
- Pieter-Jan Van Den Troost on vocals
