Ramkot Releases New Album 'Rosa' - Out Now

Just over a year after the release of debut album In Between Borderlines, Belgian rock trio Ramkot share their second album called Rosa. Brothers Tim and Tom Leyman and Hannes Cuyvers spent three weeks in the US working on a new record, following in the footsteps of their musical heroes and even using some of their instruments.

After two EP’s and a tour that established them as one the most exciting live acts around, debut album In Between Borderlines was a razor-sharp uppercut when it arrived in 2023. The subsequent release tour brought them to steamy venues in Belgium and The Netherlands, sun-drenched festival stages (Pinkpop, Down The Rabbit Hole, ...), even earning them a support slot for Metallica in Amsterdam. In just one year they played a hefty 100 shows.

When it was time to hit the studio for their sophomore album, they felt the need for a change of scene, away from hometown Ghent. ‘Not being able to go home would give us the freedom to work on the new album in one go. And because we’d done everything ourselves for the previous record, we’d saved some money to afford something a little more crazy.’ Then they got in touch with Alain Johannes, living legend and musician/producer of bands like Queens Of The Stone Age, Eagles Of Death Metal and Them Crooked Vultures, but also Arctic Monkeys and fellow Belgian bands Millionaire and Black Box Revelation. Johannes invited them to Joshua Tree and the legendary Rancho De La Luna studio, famous for QOTSA frontman Josh Homme’s The Desert Sessions. That was all Ramkot needed to get on a plane with a suitcase filled with new songs and a concept for the new album, but...without instruments. First of all because it would be too expensive, but also: ‘It would be quite ridiculous to show up with our own gear, when everything we’d need is in the studio and has passed through the hands of some of our biggest musical heroes.’

Ramkot resided in Rancho De La Luna for three weeks. ‘A wonderful time. We could completely focus on the music, not having to think about other stuff. It was all very organic and we often recorded in one take. We didn’t overdo it either, didn’t put in long days of 12 hours for instance. If we got stuck at some point, we’d just chill. That loose approach, that spontaneity is something you can hear on the album as well. Not pushing our foot down on the accelerator the whole time allowed the music to breathe more, and we opened up to a whole range of influences.’

Listen to Focus Track 'Blame It On Yourself' here

Blame It on Yourself is the focus track of the album and also the shortest song. In just 1 minute and 40 seconds, Ramkot delivers a punchy yet highly danceable track that hits you like a train. The desert rock vibe is unmistakable. Blame it on yourself, because you'll never be able to meet the expectations of others.

Nowadays, with the rise of artificial intelligence, Ramkot more than ever feels the need to put human imperfection in the centre. Alienation, loneliness and the loss of a sense of belonging, feelings that are inevitably linked to today’s zeitgeist, are some of the record’s central themes. On ‘Zeppelin’ Cuyvers sings about how people play the victim, resulting in polarization and alienation from others. ‘More than on the debut album, we want to tell one big story with this album. That’s why we have very consciously put the songs in a particular order, and suggest listening to the album in full, from beginning to end. But of course everyone’s also free to just pick out a song now and then.’

For the artwork Ramkot collaborated with Sam Scarpulla, a Belgian-American artist living in Ghent, making abstract and minimalist art. ‘We were on the same wavelength from the very first meeting and gave Sam full artistic freedom to designthe album cover.’

Tonight the band will play an exclusive instore session in the Music Mania record store in Ghent. On January 30, they will play in the Ancienne Belgique, Brussels.