Sandra van Nieuwland writes personal song about changes in her family
Sandra van Nieuwland decided to put the changing family dynamics in her personal life into a song. The Dutch singer who had massive success with her covers performed during the Dutch version of The Voice, released her most recent album Human Alien back in 2018, but is still touring with the material of this record. After a couple of stand alone singles released last year, she now shares ‘Little One’, one of the most personal songs she has recorded to date.

Van Nieuwland is the mother of three sons, but is not together with their father anymore. The singer is still in touch with her ex husband, who told her at the end of last year that him and his current partner are expecting a baby. Although this is a situation a lot of people have to confront these days, not many songs were written about it. Van Nieuwland put her thoughts into words, singing how this scenario was her worst fear before, but now she realizes the child will be a sibling to her sons and how she is happy for her ex. “There’s no name for what you are to me dear”, she sings to the child, concluding: “you do mirror the likes of my first born, then how could I not love you little one?”

The song centers around Sandra’s distinctive vocal style and only really needs piano and some strings to set the mood for the story. In the middle-eight the song turns into a sweet lullaby. ‘Little One’ is understated, delicate and above all a brave move. It cannot be easy to write a song about this situation and then share it with the world to hear, but Van Nieuwland kept it personal, respectful and relatable, which speaks volumes about her songwriting talent!