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After being involved in different projects in the Dutch indie scene, CIEL moved to Brighton mid-2018. Frontwoman Michelle Hindriks soon found a surge of inspiration and formed a band with her new, like-minded friends. CIEL’s latest work sees a set of moody alt pop songs produced by Penelope Isles’ Jack Wolter.
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With a musical style more alternative than the conventional and an inner urge to experiment, the confinement of a small town in The Netherlands was never going to quite be big enough for alt-pop artist CIEL. After being involved in different projects in the Dutch indie scene, frontwoman Michelle Hindriks moved to Brighton mid-2018. Living in the city’s creative community, Hindriks found a surge of inspiration and soon formed a band with her new, like-minded friends – turning her solo act into a band project. With the move abroad also came a change in sound. Where back in The Netherlands Hindriks’ went through a darker period, Brighton made her open up and brought lighter themes to the music. CIEL’s latest work sees a set of moody alt pop songs that merges shoegaze with postpunk, dusty americana, noir rock and dream pop. At times Hindriks’ gentle voice makes you feel like you’re floating around, when later the music bursts into heavily distorted guitar riffs, surfy basslines and energetic drums. The songs are produced by Penelope Isles’ Jack Wolter and will be mixed by Iggy B in London’s Strongroom Studios. The EP is set for release in 2020.
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With a musical style more alternative than the conventional and an inner urge to experiment, the confinement of a small town in The Netherlands was never going to quite be big enough for alt-pop artist CIEL. After being involved in different projects in the Dutch indie scene, frontwoman Michelle Hindriks moved to Brighton mid-2018. Living in the city’s creative community, Hindriks found a surge of inspiration after getting to know an eclectic group of musicians and like-minded people – making her feel like she finally fit in and her options were limitless.
The new change in Hindriks’ life awakened the creativity in her to fall in love again with writing music, and she soon formed a band with her new friends – turning her solo act into a band project. Guitarist Jorge Bela Jimenez met Hindriks in the summer of 2018; bassist/songwriter Kieran Mansfield and drummer Lawrie Miller came into the picture not much later. The new friends started working on CIEL’s songs together, keeping the essence of Hindriks’ solo work but bringing in new influences as well, carefully crafting CIEL’s current sound.
CIEL’s debut EP ‘Anxiety’ came out in 2017, and allowed the band to play festivals including Eurosonic (NL), Le Mini Who (NL) and SPOT Festival (DK), as well as support slots for Marika Hackman, Vök and Hatchie. Speaking about the EP, Hindriks says: “I like to describe the music on ‘Anxiety’ as ‘shoegazey trips’, a combination of shoegaze and dream-pop but with illogical structures jumping from part to part as if you are going on small trips throughout the songs.”
Where ‘Anxiety’ revolves around different perspectives of anxiety that Hindriks’ herself and people around her struggled with, her life in Brighton inspired her to cover lighter themes in her lyrics. “It is the first time for me that I wrote so many songs about love. The lyrics of Same Old Times With U are a nostalgic reflection of past times. Sad in a way, but looking back at it from an optimistic perspective, observing how it changed me in a positive way and celebrating the life experiences it brought.”
CIEL’s latest work is influenced by artists such as Broadcast, Alvvays and Cate Le Bon and sees a set of moody alt pop songs that merges shoegaze with postpunk, dusty americana, noir rock and dream pop. At times Hindriks’ gentle voice makes you feel like you are floating around, when later the music bursts into heavily distorted guitar riffs, surfy basslines and energetic drums. Shortly after Hindriks’ move to Brighton she came in contact with Jack Wolter, songwriter and producer for Penelope Isles. The two shared a similar vision on music and production and were influenced by many of the same bands, so naturally a collaboration followed in the form of Wolter producing CIEL’s new songs. The EP will be mixed by Iggy B in London’s Strongroom Studios and is set for release in 2020.
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