Our new BOTM is Dutch new wave duo POL.
Dutch siblings Ruben Pol and Matthijs Pol are bringing back New Wave. Inspired by this movement from the 80s with artists like Visage, The Cure, Japan, New Order, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran, to name a few, Ruben and Matthijs started writing and producing music together that fully connects with this artistic period in time.
The duo have plans to release a full debut album this year. Their first single called ‘Comme Ça’ came out on April last year, written, performed and produced by Ruben and Matthijs, and mixed by Dave Bascombe (Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears, Erasure), ‘Comme Ça’ is an affecting slice of new wave – replacing digitally produced sounds for analog synths and drum machine samples. Disconcerting and complex, speaking further about the track they say:
“Creating this track felt like telling a story, giving the listener a sort of ominous feeling each time. Taking the song from the demo to the final product took various steps. We can’t really recall in what order we did things, we were mainly sailing on intuition.”
“Boys Are” came out in June, the sibling were inspired by New Wave of the late 70s for the new track. They describe the song’s meaning as about “toxic masculinity, something that still lingers in current society.”
Recent single “Modern Strange Love” arrives with glistening and mind altering synth pop, akin to pioneers of the genre such as Bronski Beat and Pet Shop Boys.
“‘Modern Strange Love’ portrays a despairing expression of love, a love that seems to be unobtainable.”
Ruben and Matthijs both resonate strongly with the high-fashion industry, modeling for various fashion houses (Saint Laurent, Gucci, Fendi, Valentino, Dior, to name a few) as well as producing music for some.
Website: pol.fm
Instagram: instagram.com/polsound
