Dark, danceable, ecstatic and recognizable. The Belgian band Oproer has been known to leave no one unmoved with their intoxicating mix of poppy alt rock and funky postpunk. Two years after their debut album We’re All Late Tonight, the five-piece cuts deeper with follow-up The Catch, once again relentlessly serving highly infectious tunes and riffs.
When Oproer started to attract nationwide media attention by 2023, they had already gained an electrifying live reputation with their energetic and tight live shows, earning them a loyal fanbase. From supporting Fantastic Negrito on a successful European tour to selling out iconic venues like De Vooruit (Ghent) and Het Depot (Louvain), the only is undeniably up for Oproer. After a handful of singles and the Closed Session EP (recorded live in one take, 2021), the band released their debut We’re All Late Tonight in late 2023: a collection of poppy/funky alt rock songs with an edge, presented with a sold-out and steamy release show at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.
On sophomore album The Catch, Oproer dig deeper, with frontman/lyricist Dries van der Schueren drawing inspiration from turbulent times. "I lost a few people close to me, some people in the family were struggling with health issues and I’m completely swamped with a gruelling renovation, while feeling the need to write music and make a new album. It’s a challenge to try and find a balance between the things happening around you and your own personal issues. That struggle runs through a lot of the songs, and my job as a therapist helped to pour some of that intense stuff in the songs."
The feeling of chasing things, love, life, and trying to catch up, is a recurring theme throughout the album. But the album is also about all the different choices life has to offer, and how a choice that seems right at first may have consequences later. So, you ask yourself: what’s the catch?
Despite the weighty themes, The Catch certainly doesn’t feel heavy, thanks to the clever and catchy melodies by Jérôme Pringiers (keys), who writes most of the chord structures and arrangements. "I usually start from a certain feeling. The last few months I’ve felt a lot of hope, so that’s also where a lot of our melodies originated from. In contrast, Dries’s lyrics are a bit darker and bleaker, and in a strange way that matched quite well."
The result is a record that has a lot of energy and carries a certain hope and poppiness. The 80s synths on Cold Feet lift the song towards a dance-and-sing-along chorus, rapturous guitars shift the slightly darker theme of next single Sweet Fame to dance euphoria, and Different Realities is another impossible-to-stand-still-song, fuelled by compelling bass, drums and synths. "We feel that with this album we’re closing the gap between who we are on record and what we do live. Unlike the previous record, we’ve made clear decisions more quickly on how a song would sound. It was obvious from the start whether a song would be hopeful or dark. The listener doesn’t have to read between the lines for the meaning of the song, it’s all pretty in your face.’"
The Catch was recorded with Mathias Stal (producer/engineer/mixer), who also worked on Oproer’s debut album and has collaborated with acts like Kids With Buns, Ise and Ramkot. The artwork is by Studio Koevoet, which also designed the artwork for first single Cold Feet and, by extension, are creating an entire new visual identity for Oproer. The Catch is out on 17 October and will be presented with a release show at the Ancienne Belgique on 6 December. Oproer has a few more gigs lined up this year, like Czech Republic and Sweden, before turning their heads to an exciting and busy spring and summer in 2026.