To have one of your favourite and probably most influential Dutch band reunite after ten years, with their first new album after twenty, is pretty special. And to then be asked to film the first live session of three of the new songs for The Influences is really something else. Both songwriters – Anne Soldaat and Jelle Paulusma – have recorded multiple The Influences sessions before, were featured in the book and on the Traditionals records we released, but this session with Daryll-Ann really felt like a beautiful experience of a lot of things coming together. At Artone Studios in Haarlem, the band – in the original line up – performed A Note About Time, Everything I Knew and the album’s title track Spring.

Time out.

Whereas some bands reunite and focus solely on their past, things they did twenty or thirty years ago, Daryll-Ann has set their minds more towards their future. A brand new record, albeit partly with songs that Jelle Paulusma and Anne Soldaat had written in the years since the split after their last record Don’t Stop in 2004. Spring is somehow the Daryll-Ann we’ve all known and loved before, but also something new; the result of twenty years gone by in which both songwriters have developed their solo music and, well, lived their lives. Seemingly effortlessly, Jelle Paulusma, Anne Soldaat, and the rest of the band navigate through subdued folk, jangly garage rock, and dreamy alt-country, with a synergy that made Daryll-Ann one of the country’s most beloved indie bands in the ’90s.

Jelle Paulusma released five solo records (Here We Are in 2006, iRecord in 2008, Up On The Roof in 2011, Pulling Weeds in 2014 and Somehow Anyhow in 2019) and toured sold out theatres with all star tribute band Her Majesty. Anne Soldaat also released five solo albums (Do-The-Undo in 2007, In Another Life in 2009, Anne Soldaat in 2012, Talks Little, Kills Many in 2015 and Facts & Fears in 2021) and recorded and toured with Tim Knol and Clean Pete.

Meanwhile, drummer Jeroen Kleijn played with pretty much half of all the decent Dutch bands, like Johan, Claw Boys Claw, Tim Knol, Spinvis, Scram C Baby, Alex Roema, Meindert Talma and El Pino and the Volunteers,

Life can be amazing.

Daryll-Ann made waves for over fifteen years from 1988 onwards with a series of outstanding albums that secured a place in the Dutch alternative pop canon, like Happy Traum, Weeps and one of my other favourites, Don’t Stop. Which was their last record, up until this Friday, September the 13th, when Spring will be available. Something that I didn’t think would ever happen, when I spoke to the band members for my book Onder Invloed, back in 2010 and 2011. Luckily, miracles sometimes do still happen, and Spring certainly is one. Available for pre-order here.

Daryll-Ann is going on tour

Did you know Daryll-Ann is going on tour? And the ticket prices are set, and normal – none of that dynamic on demand bull shit. I highly recommend getting tickets, and I hope to see you there. Find all the dates and tickets on Daryll-Ann’s website.

Photos

Keep watching

Thank you for watching and enjoying this session. You’ll probably like some other sessions from The Influences’ archive too, like these earlier ones we filmed with Anne Soldaat and Jelle Paulusma.