Krystl is one of those unknown treasures of the Dutch music scene. She’s still rising even though she’s been around for several years. Her debut was in 2010 and was impressive. Her first single, “Golden Days”, got a dream start for any upcoming artist, when it got used for a campaign for a martini brand. With this ultimate exposure, she was put on the map very quickly. A few hits, an album, a tour and an important Edison award followed to encourage her, but it still took 3 years for a follow up album to be released.
It’s kind of been a stop-and-go for her when it comes to music releases. She fills it up with a few cover versions, usually via request of various radio shows, but there are chunks of time in between her own music, but when she does release something it usually turns out really good. With her last release dating back to 2013 it really was high time for something new, so finally there’s a new single out.
The new single is called “Losing My Head”. Krystl is known to be care-free, a bit of a drifter, and her music has always matched her personality, but “Losing My Head” is different. Even her pronunciation of her English is different than before.
There’s a bit of everything current in there. I hear influences of Sia, Lana Del Rey and just any of today’s pop and dance music in there. It’s all a bit darker and more powerful than her usual stuff. That combination makes it sound familiar and, perhaps, a little bit predictable, but it’s a really good track when judged on its own.
The structure of the song is very nicely build up. New layers of sounds and instruments are being added each time to keep it interesting and the chorus is getting more powerful by the minute. It’s great to hear a good production coming out of the Netherlands again in something other than the rock, dance and hip hop genre. Those three seem to be the genres the Dutch excess at. It’s great that pop is getting up to par as well. Good thing Krystl was losing her head.
