Our single Follow is out!
MakeBelieve is back. The band from Groningen has undergone three intensive years of self-imposed exile to create a new album. An album that proves once and for all that MakeBelieve are anything but one hit wonders. The sound is just as poppy and catchy and as exciting and high octane as it ever was: yet the songs are now more diverse and the music is more layered. Excuse the term, but MakeBelieve has come of age.
A founding father and the band’s lead singer Joey Dussel (26): “We were making music that was hip, and we were pretty good at it, but at some point it became clear that we didn’t want to make that kind of music any more. So we took all the time we needed to discover what we really wanted to do. You have to believe 100% in the music that you make.” If you listen to a song like Follow, it sounds like an international hit right from the first few bars. There’s nothing run of the mill about it. And yet, it still sounds a little familiar. You want to play it again. And again. This is what the songs of MakeBelieve do to you: they get into your head and stay there the rest of the day. They sound warm and big and give you energy and hope. The sound is more electronic than it used to be, and the tracks are surprisingly danceable. This is less surprising when you take into account that MakeBelieve has been working in the studio with top producers: people who have written hits for Adele, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Manic Street Preachers, and many others.
Joey is also impatient to share the band’s great adventure with the audience. He started the band nine years ago with the conviction that there was no reason why indie rock shouldn’t be poppy and catchy. This didn’t go unnoticed. MakeBelieve played Paradiso, Lowlands, Sziget, Eurosonic and Noorderslag, as well as the Heineken Music Hall supporting 30 Seconds to Mars. In no time they achieved things that most bands can only dream of. A host of fans as well as critical aclaim. But Joey says: “Of course I’m proud of what we’ve achieved. But when I listen to what we’re doing now it’s so much better than back then.
The new album Matter of Time was sweated over from student lodgings to rehearsal rooms and large studios at home and abroad. The album title refers to the length of time that the album took to make, as well as the undying sense of hope that characterizes the band. Things turn out well in the end. Proof of this is the album’s
difficult inception that was swiftly followed by Warner Music’s decision, on hearing the new tracks, to sign a Dutch band for the first time in many years. You can easily understand why when you hear the international sound and calibre of this album. This band could easily become very big indeed. It’s just a Matter of Time....
