This week is a busy week: I’m currently running around New York’s Lower East Side covering my sixth New Colossus Festival. The show around here must go on as best as it could. So let’s get to it, right?
___
Dutch-born, London-based artist Sarah-Jayne “SJ” Riedel is the creative mastermind behind the rising indie recording project Dutch Mustard. With Dutch Mustard, Riedel blends ethereal dream pop, 90s alt-rock with shoegaze touches to create a soundscape that features painterly and swirling guitar textures while the Dutch-born artist’s vocals drift between a near whisper and yearning, heavenly arching shouts.
Riedel and Dutch Mustard exploded into the British scene with the release of 2022’s debut EP An Interpretation of Depersonalisation, an effort that was featured by the BBC while receiving airplay on BBC Radio 1’s Future Artists with Jack Saunders and a co-sign from the legendary Iggy Pop.
2023’s sophomore EP, Beauty received airplay from BBC Radio 6’s Lauren Laverne and co-signs from Don Letts and Amy Lamé. Adding to a growing profile, The Independent, The Line of Best Fit, Clash, Dork and Notion have all covered her — and The Grammy Awards selected her a one of 6 Female Fronted Acts Reviving Rock, along with Wet Leg.
Anchored around swirling guitar textures, propulsive and thunderous drumming SJ’s latest Dutch Mustard single, the hazy “Dreaming” not just showcases the rising Dutch-born, London-based artist’s gorgeous vocals, but reveals a songwriter with an unerring knack for pairing earnest, seemingly lived-in songwriting with catchy, rousingly anthemic hooks while subtly pushing the boundaries of shoegaze in new directions.
“’Dreaming’ captures that strange grey area at the start of a relationship—when you’re unsure if it’s real or just a dream,” SJ explains. “It’s about a rare, true connection and the vulnerability of opening yourself up, letting someone in, and wondering if they’ll meet you in the same world.”
Directed by Josiah Newbolt, the accompanying video for “Dreaming” is a hazily shot fever dream that shows the Dutch Mustard mastermind expressively dancing through screens in a moody lit room, a forest and elsewhere, which further emphasizes the vulnerability at the heart of the song.
SJ will be making her Stateside debut this week at New Colossus with three sets:
New Colossus Festival Saturday 8th March @ Arlene’s Grocery 9:15pm
New Colossus Festival Sunday 9th March @ Arlene’s Grocery 2:15pm
New Colossus Festival Sunday 9th March @ Pianos Showroom 7:45pm
Discover more from The Joy of Violent Movement
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.