Affaire releases Internal Swing

Galloping drum machines, a battery of synths, convulsive vocals, and a driving guitar that merge into a hybrid of sinuous energy and overheated nervousness: these are the ingredients Michiel Ritzen and Nick Caers, together known as Affaire, use to serve their off-beat electronic rock.

The two gentlemen met as teenagers, both drummers. After countless jam sessions, Caers immersed himself in advanced studies of the same instrument, while Ritzen explored bass, guitar, and vocals during his psychology studies. After spending years playing in various bands and formations, the two friends found themselves post-COVID in the black hole of drum machines, synthesizers, and effect racks. Though Nick and Michiel have spent most of their lives behind the drums, they temporarily traded their instruments for this project to transform into scientists behind the knobs. Affaire delivers a sound that exists at the intersection of what Suicide did in the ’80s, the angularity of Talking Heads, and the adventurous spirit of LCD Soundsystem and Soulwax—yet carves out its own unique path.

Live, the contrast between the two protagonists crackles: Caers, focused like a professor, taming, steering, and often letting his synths and drum machines fly off the rails, and Ritzen, whose rhythmic guitar playing and charismatic vocals bounce hyperactively across the stage. Tension and fun are the common threads, reflected in the name Affaire: a mirror of Ritzen's feeling that, given his background, music can and should only ever be a side affair. A forbidden desire longing for release.

On February 7, their EP Internal Swing will be released, featuring six tracks that balance on a spectrum of twisted electro and abrasive guitar rock, with lyrics resembling an unrelenting stream of consciousness. From introspection and empathy, psychologist Ritzen delivers light-hearted musings on escapism, love, madness, doubt, and joy. For example, the single Thoughts and Pleasure explores identity in limbo, with Ritzen striving to reconcile an inner Mark E. Smith with his own persona over a pulsating beat. The second single, Mountain Energy, an ode and love letter to escape in the Austrian mountains, takes on a more undulating and peaceful tone, though not without the occasional injection of vigor. The third single, Keep Calling, offers a comically dramatic narrative of a neurotic therapist struggling with unmet expectations. Accompanied by honest, simple instrumentation, this track—and the EP as a whole—gently builds to a pleasing explosion.

Most of the tracks were recorded by Ritzen and Caers in their home studio and during a residency at Het Depot in Leuven. For the final touches, they worked intensively with Rob Driessen from De Muziekgieterij in Maastricht, where Affaire is an Artist in Residence.

08.02.2025 - We Are Open, Trix

19.03.2025 - Coke Studio Sessions, AB