La Belle Epoque releases Volume II

Looking at the debut album in 2020 'La Belle Époque, Volume I', it's no surprise that Danny van Tiggele (known from Mister and Mississippi and Blaudzun) was already working on turning this into a great series. Now November 10th, the sequel, Volume II is expected.

Two years after the debut album 'La Belle Époque, Volume I', there is 'La Belle Époque, Volume II'. Once again, the front cover is a beautiful collage of a café full of names from the Dutch pop and indie world. We see Tim Knol & Cato van Dijck sharing a table, Camiel Meiresonne on a rocking chair, Spike with his beloved vox guitar, a cozy get-together at the bar with Maurits Westerik & Maxime Barlag and Tessa Douwstra and Bent van Looy having a drink at his piano. We also see Robin Kester, Bertolf, Megan de Klerk, Bas van Holt and Anne Lieke Heusinkveld appearing at the bar. Danny himself stands behind the bar as the organizer of the party and that's how he sees it himself.

"It's an honor to work with so many cool musicians - and every one of these names has earned a place in my music collection with their own work. The first ideas for the songs came from myself - but to be able to work out the songs with this club is really a feast. Besides this big club of vocalists, there are 25 musicians playing on the record. Sometimes I have to look back in the CD booklet to see who played that great bass or guitar part. Some collaborations are really unique. I am very happy to hear Spike sing in a song again - and a duet by Tim Knol & Cato van Dijck is pretty special too. Every song has its own story."

You can hear a lot of different inspirations on the album - but it's clear that Danny's record collection is filled with albums where melody and atmosphere take center stage. Think 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' by Wilco, 'Happy Traum' by Daryll-Ann and the oeuvre of Paul McCartney. You can clearly hear the inspirations from the '60s and '70s. Good examples are the fuzz guitar of Pablo van de Poel in the song 'Part Time Peace of Mind' or the Keith Moon inspired fills of Kees Schaper in 'Out of Bad Luck'. Even the acoustic song 'Wildflower' could have been written straight out of Laurel Canyon in the heyday of Joni Mitchell and Judee Sill. Yet there are also modern influences. In songs like 'Nobody Really Lives Here' and 'I've Searched All Of My Skies' you can hear the dreamy sounds of the first Mister and Mississippi and Beach House records.