Alain Clark is a well-known name in the Netherlands and has been so for several years. Coming from a musical family – his dad played in his own band - it was to be expected that Alain would have music in his DNA and find his own place in the business. At the height of the success of TV talent shows, Alain brought his r&b flavor to the masses as a writer for some of the successful acts that the TV shows produced. And even before stepping out as a successful solo artist, he was receiving important awards from his peers.
Once Alain released his own music, his star really started rising and no one was too surprised to see his biggest hit, “Father & Friend” – a personal duet with his dad, getting an official European release. It’s every Dutch musician’s dream to get international success and we especially appreciate success in the UK, Germany, but the ultimate dream is the US.
When Alain started to work the UK to try to push his career there, it was all over the entertainment news here, but I don’t really know how that has worked out for him. As far as I know, his songs have never charted in the UK.
But compared to the big hype about him setting his sights on the UK, it’s just sheer coincidence that I recently discovered Alain is setting his sights on the US. There’s a deal in place for the US with Concord Music and his first single, “Kiss You The Same”, has been released there just a few months ago.
For Alain, it’s kind of like he’s returning to his early beginnings. He lived in the Stated for several years, before his success in the Netherlands, and learned the trade. This is probably been key to his success, because Dutch people tend to like that slick produced American sound. A lot of artists work hard at learning to sound American, in music and in speech. So Alain is coming full circle and I can definitely imagine that this would be the cherry on the pie, the cream of the crops, the ultimate achievement.
I’m very surprised, though, at the first single chosen. “Kiss You The Same” is a bit different from the Alain Clark that we know. He’s tried to incorporate the current tropical house music in it. Rhythmic it hits all the marks, but I personally don’t think this is as strong as some of his past material has been.
The single is part of an upcoming album, which will follow up his 2014 release, “Walk With Me”. The new album was mostly recorded in the States, where Alain worked with producers who worked for Justin Bieber.
