My Indigo drops smooth synth pop record with personality
For years, Sharon Den Adel was the front woman of the popular symphonic metal band Within Temptation. The band had a long string of hits in their native the Netherlands and toured all over Europe. When working on new material for the band, Sharon hit a wall. She wasn’t able to create the big and powerful songs she usually would and decided to go down a different road with more subtle and reflective tunes close to her heart. As these tracks did not necessarily fit the style of the band, she decided to release them as a solo project under the name My Indigo. What a transformation!

I have to admit I was not sold on the idea of Sharon Den Adel doing synth pop when I first heard about this project, but I was proven wrong, completely wrong! The first single, which was actually titled ‘My Indigo’ too, immediately showed that her distinctive vocals fit the genre like a glove. The track maneuvers between stripped back verses with just a guitar and a synth and drum explosion in the swinging chorus. Just like ‘My Indigo’, all productions on the record are carefully constructed and well thought out, whether they are simple and stripped back or big and bombastic.

My Indigo is a balanced mix of the swinging type of synthpop with enough room for proper ballads, with light electronic arrangements that run through its veins from start to finish. ‘Black Velvet Sun’ is probably the most radiofriendly tune on the record that almost sounds like a dance hit. The instrumentation mixes synths with strings and Sharon’s vocals are more playful than ever. With the right remix this could actually be played in the clubs. ‘Where Is My Love’ is quite the opposite with heartwrenching vocals in the verses and those high notes we know her for in the chorus. This type of dark ballad with subtle electronic influences makes me wonder why she did not go down this route before! Piano based ‘Out of the Darkness’ is glorious in simplicity and shows of a more vulnerable and fragile side to her vocals which we did not always hear in Within Temptation’s work.

Lyrically the album might not be groundbreaking, but it is easy to hear the stories are personal to Sharon and to get the point across she does not need the most poetic wordings. My Indigo is a straightforward album with instant hooks (the catchiness of ‘Crash and Burn’ as prime example) and effective productions that wears its heart on its sleave. Sharon Den Adel reinvented herself creatively as My Indigo and I sure hope her busy schedule with Within Temptation allows her to show us more of this in the future!