Thijs Boontjes Releases Album 'Dancing Boontjes' on 1 November

On November 1, 2024, the long-awaited second album by Thijs Boontjes, titled Dancing Boontjes (label: Excelsior Recordings), will be released. In the follow-up to his debut album Geen Achttien Meer (2019), Thijs presents himself as an activist, bon vivant, and sometimes a partner who messes things up. The new cabinet faces criticism in the protest song Fiasco (Genânt, Genânt), and in Nachtportier, he laments the increasing xenophobia, homophobia, and other forms of intolerance in our society. Even in the most miserable circumstances, Dancing Boontjes manages to keep the overall mood high, with or without a bittersweet drink (Campari Soda) in hand, as a weapon against the deeply rooted Calvinist flatness of his homeland, The Netherlands. Thijs Boontjes articulates the phenomenon of "human clumsiness" like no one else, and he doesn't spare himself in the process. Musically, the album navigates through rock 'n' roll, Italo, and a few punk deviations, returning to its Nederpop roots, which are evident throughout.

The album title refers to his family’s car garage in Schagen, North Holland, which was occasionally transformed into a ‘bar dancing’ venue in the post-war years. When the urge hit, the showroom would be converted into a dance floor, and an advertisement would be placed in the newspaper announcing that Dancing Boontjes was open again. The nostalgia of that place, which Thijs knows only from old photos and stories, served as an inspiration for the album. Thijs says, “I love glory, especially when it has faded. It can look glamorous, but there should be cracks in the walls and sun-bleached curtains that haven’t been opened in years.” The image of that weathered bar symbolizes a world where everyone’s true nature ultimately comes to light. With Dancing Boontjes, Thijs creates his own nocturnal universe where unusual things seem perfectly normal and vice versa, allowing you to dance away both large-scale suffering and everyday life as if no one is watching.

New song Campari Soda is an ode to Italian culture and a small protest against eternal Dutch Calvinism. In this culture, you must always work for your reward, you don’t stick your head above the parapet, and enjoyment is only permitted after a long period of hard work. But life is too short for such “Calvinist nonsense.” The Italian bottles of Campari Soda sing to Thijs Boontjes like sirens, urging him to embrace a bit of dolce vita in his polder life. Taste the good life. Learn to enjoy. Don’t be afraid, Dutchman.

DANCING BOONTJES CLUBTOUR 2024

• 29 november: Muziekgieterij, Maastricht
• 30 november: EM2, Groningen
• 6 december: Patronaat, Haarlem
• 7 december: Fluor, Amersfoort
• 8 december: Willem Twee, Den Bosch
• 12 december: Mezz, Breda
• 13 december: Metropool, Enschede
• 14 december: Nobel, Leiden
• 19 december: Rotown, Rotterdam
• 20 december: Doornroosje, Nijmegen
• 21 december: Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht