© Bob Juesette

Today Brussels based duo Affaire releases their second single 'Keep Calling'. It will be their last single before releasing their debut EP 'Internal Swing' on February 7 via V2 Records.

Lead singer Michiel Ritzen used his psychology studies as an inspiration to deliver a comedic yet dramatic narrative about a neurotic psychologist and the unfulfilled expectations of their client. A syrupy sweet arrangement, complete with female vocals (by his sister Nele Ritzen), carries the song from naive sincerity to a gentle explosion.

Michiel Ritzen is accompanied by Nick Caers on synths and drum machine. But what can you expect from this duo? Off-beat electronic rock with driving drum machines, a battery of synths, convulsive vocals, and a propelling guitar that merges into a hybrid of twisted energy and overheated nervousness. They deliver a sound that finds itself at the crossroads of what Suicide did in the '80s, the angularity of Talking Heads, and the adventurous spirit of LCD Soundsystem and Soulwax, while still carving their own path.

Watch the video for 'Keep Calling' here

Beginning of February, the 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 unceasing stream of consciousness. From introspection and empathy, psychologist Ritzen lightly elaborates on escapism, love, delusion, doubts, and pleasure. Their previous single is called Mountain Energy and is a song is about Michiel's first experience with escapism in a one-street village in the Austrian mountains, where his girlfriend grew up. Listen to Mountain Energy here.

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

The band is also proud to announce some upcoming shows in Belgium and in The Netherlands. They will play a show at We Are Open showcase festival in Trix, play a Coke Studio Session together with Soft Boy in Ancienne Belgique and play as support for Customs.

Affaire Tourdates

  • 26.01.2025 - De Zwerver - Leffinge (support The Bel Air Lipbombs)
  • 08.02.2025 - We Are Open, Trix - Antwerpen
  • 19.03.2025 - Coke Studio Sessions, AB - Brussel
  • 01.05.2025 - Volt - Sittard (support Customs)
  • 04.05.2025 - Rotown - Rotterdam (support Customs)
  • 23.05.2025 - Sniester - Den Haag

tickets and info

More about Affaire

The two gentlemen met during their teenage years as drummers. After many jam sessions, Caers delved into higher studies of the same instrument, while Ritzen, during his psychology studies, started experimenting with bass, guitar, and vocals. After playing in various bands and formations for several years, the two friends found themselves post-COVID in the black hole of drum machines, synthesizers, and effects pedals. Although Nick and Michiel have spent most of their lives behind the drums, they temporarily swapped their kits for this project to imagine themselves as scientists behind the controls.

The name Affaire was conceived by Vincent Lynen (singer Léo Vincent), initially without much underlying meaning. After a while, Michiel began to see the analogy of the name Affaire with his daily life: the feeling that having a job aligned with his psychology degree should be the primary focus, and that music cannot or should not be work, at best just a hobby. An analogy for a kind of secret, forbidden extramarital desire: the affair.

  • 08.02.2025 Live @ We Are Open, Trix
  • 19.03.2025 Live @ AB Club

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