Anouk (with band)

1 (solo) performer

Indoor

Singer (female) , Well known artists

1 hour

In consultation

NL

Want the Netherlands' most popular rock singer at your party? It's possible—submit a request and book Anouk quickly and easily!

Anouk can perform an exclusive set at your party. She’ll sing her greatest hits live for one hour—either in an intimate acoustic style or with a full band. Please indicate your preference in the request.

It all started in 2015, when Anouk sang a birthday song for her boyfriend Dominique just for fun. She liked it so much that she released “Dominique” as a single. “People then said, ‘Hey, you should make a whole album in Dutch.’ I thought that was quite a challenge, especially since I’d gotten a little bored musically.” It certainly was a challenge. In previous years, the songs had flowed effortlessly from her pen. Now that she was composing in her own language for the first time, it suddenly didn’t come so naturally. Looking back, she can laugh about it. “There were definitely moments when I thought: What the hell have I gotten myself into?!”

She especially had to search for the right tone. “Sometimes the lyrics were too poetic—that doesn’t suit me at all. You sometimes hear beautiful Dutch songs, but then I think: What the hell are you actually saying? On the other hand, it can’t sound too simple either. It has to be believable, in a way that’s just how I talk.” In hindsight, she’s glad it didn’t come naturally this time. “The whole idea was to challenge myself again, to really push myself. And it worked.”

Once the songs were written, her pronunciation was the next challenge.
After singing in English for over twenty years, she now had to discover her Dutch singing voice for the first time. “At first I thought: this sounds so stupid! Sometimes it was way too flat, other times too proper. You really have to find a middle ground so that I could listen to it myself. That took a while.”

We got the first teaser of the new album in May 2017, when Anouk sang a compelling version of “Wen D’r Maar Aan” as a guest on DWDD. The second came on the first day of spring this year, when she performed her single “Lente” live on RTL Weer—a stunt she still looks back on with the mischievous glee of a young girl. “Yeah, that was really hilarious. And it was very generous of RTL to be open to that.”

Ultimately, the fall release of her first Dutch-language album couldn’t have been better timed. With its melancholic atmosphere and beautiful strings, *Wen D’r Maar Aan* is a stunning album that makes you picture the leaves falling from the trees. Songs like “Kom Terug,” “Red Mij,” and “Zwart Is De Lucht” are about lost loves, loneliness, and depression. “I personally find that melancholy really beautiful. It also fits very well with the arrangements.”

The themes of *Wen D’r Maar Aan* contrast with the cheerful photo shoot Anouk did earlier this year, together with her boyfriend Dominique and her six children. In those photos, her life seems like one big party. “That’s true, but not every day is the same. I have quite a past to draw on. I’m in a really good place right now. Everything is pretty calm, which is very nice. I have a loving husband. But
I’m not like the woman on the cover of Vogue every day, and I’m quite prone to depression. I always have to stay strong.”

Since she’s singing in her own language for the first time, listeners might think these songs are closer to Anouk’s heart than ever. But she denies that. “No, that’s absolutely not true. Almost all of my songs are personal; it’s just that the Dutch lyrics hit a little closer to home.” That’s certainly true of lines like “I’m done with your stupid face,” with which she mercilessly settles the score with an ex. But which one?
The media immediately began speculating about that. Anouk laughs heartily: “It’s not about one person. I wish it were.”

The intense music video for “Het Is Klaar,” full of angry women taking brutal revenge on their terrible exes, sparked mixed reactions: offended men, cheering #MeToo women. But Anouk is used to that kind of commotion. “It’s been like that for 23 years, and so far it hasn’t hurt me. I’d rather have a little controversy than have everything just plod along blandly. You can never please everyone. Some people love that I sing in Dutch; others would rather wait for the next album.” Anouk shrugs; for her, only one thing matters: “As long as I can listen to it myself, then it’s okay. The only thing that matters to me is that it’s musically good and, above all, that you can feel it. And we’ve succeeded—this has really turned out to be a great album.”

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