The Vain Travail are a new cool collective from the Netherlands. It was formed by five musicians (Arthur Adam ten Cate, Dirk Schreuders, Jonas Pap, Dave Menkehorst and Len van de Laak), who have a wealth of experience. They play(ed) with renowned Dutch artists like Bertolf, Sevdaliza, Henny Vrienten, Sandra van Nieuwland and Navarone. Arthur Adam featured on this blog before.

In between their other commitments, the five have been working on their own repertoire for the past two years. During that time, they’ve never been all together in one room. Working in pairs or trios, they wrote and recorded songs, sent them to one another and added elements from their own studios. Eventually they produced twelve promising demos, enough for a concept album. That was at the start of 2020, a year that turned out rather different than anyone could’ve thought.

With their agendas suddenly empty, the five devoted all of their time to The Vain Travail. The first result is their debut EP All Is Quiet, which will be followed by an album full of new tracks in November.

Although the lyrics for the EP had been written before COVID-19 came upon us, they describe the ‘new normal’ in a bizarrely accurate way. All Is Quiet describes abandoned streets and loitering mischief, I Must Be Dreaming deals with the confusing conclusion that the world keeps turning, even after everything collapsed, I’d Be Dancing is about acceptance and the light at the end of the tunnel, while Do You See The Sun? is a song about hope.

The latter is The Vain Travail’s new single. An intense, melancholic pop noir track in the best Radiohead tradition. Radiohead at the time they still made ‘songs’, that is. And if you recently enjoyed my recommendations of Just’s music, you’re sure to like this as well. High quality from the lowlands!

Recommended as well:
Arthur Adam – O

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Werner Schlosser

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.