New music from Van Elst

Based between the UK capital of London and the city of Utrecht in The Netherlands, musician Frank van der Ploeg makes original bedroom pop music under the Van Elst alias. After spending a year touring in the USA and Europe as the drummer of psych trio Desert Mountain Tribe, supporting Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy, Van Elst has evolved his sound from his psychedelic rock to a more atmospheric and dark electronic aesthetic.

Drawing on his experience writing deep and emotional music, with his new endeavour he infuses those sentiments and wraps them up in his new sonic offering. Taking influence from the likes of Moderat, Tycho and Oscar and the Wolf, he crafts wholly immersive soundscapes driven by wistful synth tones, bass heavy electronic and capped by his alluring melodic writing.

With a goal to shed light on the often unexplored sides of mental health, he shares, “Listening to songs that relate to the situation I’m in helps me to process my feelings. With my music I hope to provide a feeling of hope and a similar healing experience for the listener.”

Making his introduction as Van Elst in 2020, he released his debut single with “Home”, which he’s followed up with a string of stellar tracks. Off the back of his previous release of “Où es-tu”, he now brings us his latest work with his new single titled “Forevermore”.

Instilling the song with a captivating sense of hope and intimacy amongst a melancholic outlook, with “Forevermore” Van Elst delivers stunning and moving song that showcases the depths of his artistry and songwriting talent. Full of dark textures and subtle rhythm, on his latest single the artist spins a mesmeric song via a truly unique sound.

Commenting on the new single, he offers, “The main inspiration for writing ‘Forevermore’ came to me after an eye-opening experience I endured on a dark winter’s night in December 2021, undergoing a blue purple vision of an ethereal body lighting up like a shimmer in the darkness. Having this occurrence edged into my mind the next day while revisiting this “episodic memory”, the song flowed out of me in such a natural way. I quickly recorded the vocals and lyrics using my laptop with a SM58 microphone creating a very personal emotional sensation.”

Adding, “Even-though it has melancholic elements, ‘Forevermore’ is leaning more towards finding a calling in life rather than focussing on being completely lost, carrying sparks of hope. As I develop and grow as an artist my next single will most likely build further upon this story, which I am very excited about.”

Listen to Forevermore below

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