An album of one hour recorded by an orchestra that you must listen to in one go: a striking choice by Anouk in times of a short attention span on social media. The singer does exactly what she wants.
Deena & Jim, de veertiende plaat van de 48-jarige zangeres, is een ervaring. Voor een snelle online hit leent het album zich niet. “Maar ik ben ook van een andere generatie, hè?”, zegt Anouk lachend in gesprek met NU.nl. “Ik liet mijn man de plaat horen, op bed met een koptelefoon op. Hij luistert normaal niet naar dit soort muziek. Hij kwam daarna de trap af en zei: ‘Poeh, dat was zwaar.’ Ik vind dat grappig om te horen.”
Anouk heeft maling aan wat op de radio wordt gedraaid en wat haar commercieel succes oplevert. “Ik heb nog nooit, en dat is best bijzonder in een carrière van 27 jaar, een concessie hoeven doen. Ik heb nooit verantwoording afgelegd voor mijn muziek.”
“Zelfs in mijn beginjaren niet. Contract of geen contract, als ik niet kan doen wat ik wil, dan ga ik weg. Ik ben nooit bang geweest om dingen te verliezen. Dan stort het hele kaartenhuis maar in. Dat bouw ik wel weer op.”
‘I also had to play therapist a bit’
Anouk had known for years that she wanted to record another album with an orchestra. Martin Gjerstad, with whom the singer often collaborates, wrote the arrangements. The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra recorded them. “Martin is an arranger, has attended the conservatory and written operas. I wanted this to be a record for him that he had always wanted to make.”
She showered him with films and film music that served as inspiration. “Disney movies, very old soundtracks, everything I like. And then I let him do his thing.” That didn’t always go without a hitch: “Martin is so good, but sometimes a bit insecure. A few times during the process he suddenly wanted to throw everything away, because he thought it wasn’t good enough. While what he made is beautiful. So I also had to play therapist a bit, haha.”
Conversely, Gjerstad also helps Anouk give everything vocally. “You should have no shame in the studio. That is not always easy when there are people staring at you on the other side of the glass. I also think that I move very unattractively when I sing. I am aware of that “But I feel completely at ease with Martin. He is almost a brother to me.”
Anouk thinks that she has sometimes held back in the past. “I can sometimes listen back to something and think: damn, I wish I had recorded it more like that. That’s why I think some songs sound much better live now than on the record.”
Waarom koos Anouk niet voor het Metropole Orkest?
Anouk benaderde het Metropole Orkest, maar dat wilde zijn naam op de cover van de plaat hebben. “Dat is wat zij doen, maar dat gaat in dit geval natuurlijk nergens over. Alles was al door Martin en mij geschreven. Alle arrangementen zijn aangeleverd, zij zouden het alleen inspelen. Ik ga ook niet de namen van al mijn bandleden op een albumhoes zetten”, legt de zangeres uit.
‘Texts are recognizable, unless you are very young’
The names Deena and Jim had been in Anouk’s notebook for a while. She wrote a song about them and decided that the record should be called that too. The album is mainly about (broken) relationships, inspired by her own love past and what she sees in people around her. “I think everyone can recognize themselves in the lyrics, unless you are very young and have not yet been put through the wringer,” she says, laughing.
Especially the song When I Die is close to Anouk’s heart. The song even reads a short biography, as if she has passed away. “The last thing I want is for my children to remain in mourning for too long when I die. I have had a good life and I want them to be able to live life to the fullest when I am gone.”
The singer knows that she genetically has a high chance of developing dementia one day. “That is why I have ensured that everything is recorded in my will in recent years, so that they do not have to make any choice for me. This really comes from care and love for my family. I don’t want them to be left behind.”
Anouk – Are You Done Running?
The post first appeared on www.nu.nl