Tag: Donna Blue Dark Roses

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Donna Blue Shares Swooning “Aphrodite”

With the release of 2017’s self-titled debut EP, which featured  “Sunset Blvd,” a track that received airplay on Elton John’s Apple Music radio show Rocket Hour, acclaimed indie duo Donna Blue — romantic couple and musical collaborators Danique van Kesteren and Bart van Dalen — quickly established a dreamy and cinematic sound that seemed influenced by Phil Spector Wall of Sound-like pop, Pasty Cline, yè yè and David Lynch‘s Twin Peaks.

2020’s self-produced and self-recorded, five-song EP Inbetween EP saw the duo continuing upon the sound that won them attention nationally and internationally — while also seemingly drawing from Roy Orbison, Julee Cruise, Nancy Sinatra, Patsy Cline and so on. For me, it’s an effort that evokes very specific memories: wandering Amsterdam in varying degrees of inebriation, passing fellow drunk revelers shouting and dancing; scantily Red Light District prostitutes dancing to American pop, summoning customers with a wry smiles and knowing winks; and walking through Frankfurt-am-Main’s Haupwatche and Romer Districts longing for a face like mine in the crowd.

The duo’s full-length debut, 2022’s Dark Roses featured 11 dreamy, film noir-like cinematic tracks that saw the acclaimed duo taking up a decidedly twangy, Western sound inspired by Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni and John Barry paired with dreamily sensual vocals. 

The duo’s sophomore full-length album, Into The Realm of Love is slated for a March 8, 2024 release through their longtime label home, Snowstar Records. The album’s latest single “Aphrodite” is a swooning and twangy, film-noir-like bit of pop that seemingly channels Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, and more, full of sweet and charmingly old-timey declarations of love and devotion.

“Continuing along the classic storytelling lineage from the likes of well-known 1960’s duos Nancy & Lee, Serge & Jane, and Ramses & Liesbeth, our second single ‘Aphrodite’ is a duet written as a sort of myth,” the duo explain. “An upbeat and refreshing, yet nostalgic tale about a man trying to prove to a woman he is worthy of her love, while she is only interested in what he can do for her.“

Directed and edited by the duo, the accompanying video for “Aphrodite” is shot in a gorgeous black and white, and playfully draws from Greek myths, and films from the 20s-60s.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Originally founded in beautiful Amsterdam, the rising indie duo Donna Blue — romantic couple and muses, Danique van Kesteren and Bart van Dalen — quickly established a dreamy and cinematic sound seemingly influenced by Phil Spector, Wall of Sound-like pop, Pasty Cline, yè yè and David Lynch‘s Twin Peaks with the release of 2017’s self-titled debut, which featured “Sunset Blvd,” a track that received airplay on Elton John’s Apple Music radio show Rocket Hour.

Back in 2020, Dutch indie label, Snowstar Records, released the duo’s self-produced and self-recorded five-song EP Inbetween saw the duo continuing upon the sound that quickly won them attention nationally and internationally — while also drawing from Roy Orbison, Julee Cruise, Nancy Sinatra, Patsy Cline. The end result was an effort that evokes late nights wandering narrow European streets, daydreaming in smokey cafes, sitting in bars reflecting on your life while nursing a drink. Personally, the EP’s material immediately brings back very specific memories: walking through Amsterdam’s Centrum and Red Light Districts late at night, the prostitutes summoning men with a wink and a wry smile, and passing drunk revelers on the street; and walking through Frankfurt-am-Main’s Haupwatche and Romer Districts with the surreal and lonely ache of being a foreigner.

Donna Blue’s highly-anticipated full-lengths but Dark Roses is slated for a May 13, 2022 release through Snowstar Records. The album is reportedly features 11 dreamy and cinematic tracks that feel like a film score for a romantic, film noir. While playing with the feeling of being alive, yet in a carefully sculpted parallel world, the album’s material finds the duo taking on a decidedly twangy Western sound inspired by Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni and John Barry paired with dreamily sensual vocals.

Dark Roses‘ fourth and latest single “The Beginning” is a slow-burning, lush, and cinematic track centered around shimmering and twangy guitars, soaring keys, propulsive, hi-hat driven rhythms paired with van Kesteren’s aching vocal. Fittingly, “The Beginning” sounds as though it should be part of the opening credits of a gorgeously shot and surreal film set in the Amsterdam or Berlin suburbs that’s one part social commentary, one part Romantic mediation, one part love story and one part psychedelic freak out.