Laurens Mariën (keyboards), Benjamin Cools (percussion), and Sylvie Kreusch (vocals), the founding members of Soldier’s Heart, met at an art high school in Antwerp (Belgium) where they studied performing arts during their mid-teenage years.
Soldier’s Heart - named after an anxiety disorder of which one of the member’s suffers - originated as a project which centered on the vocals of front woman Sylvie in combination with soundscapes by Benjamin and Laurens. The threesome initially gravitated towards performance art, but moved towards the formation of a band when Jasper Segers (guitar) and Ferre Marnef (bass) joined. Jasper, a music producer, serves as a technical backbone for the band, while Ferre, a graphic design student who is also active in Belgium’s theatre scene, provides graphical work and accompanies the band live. Following their new formation, the group quickly gained national interest for their eclectic creative output.
As the majority of the members are musical autodidacts and have backgrounds in other art forms - ranging from theatre to fine arts - the band has a nonlinear approach to making music. After their succes single African Fire lead to showcases in nearly all Europe's capitals, New York and Japan, and raving reviews and editorials by magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Dazed & Confused, and Interview Magazine. The five of them spent the last three years, during which the band only released an EP, experimenting with various instruments, honing their musical skills in the process.
Surrealism is an art form all five of them appreciate. Their love for the absurd shows in both their approach to aesthetics and their music. Lyrically the album is drawn upon Syvlie Kreusch’s late teenage years. Unanswered desire, first time lovers who cannot seem to communicate which eachother, teenage lust, and a longing to belong, are all themes which get touched upon by the young singer. Visually, the band draws inspiration from a loss of connection to reality, dreams, and surrealist painters, which translates itself to be a unique leitmotiv through their work.Their debut album Night By Night provides a mature and at times sarcastic interpretation of youth’s bittersweet first experiences with love and adult life, and is a first stepping stone to a promisingly bright future.
Text by Allesandro Cangelli
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