Dutch pop star Maan drops her best single so far, ‘Pockets Full Of Change’. Continue reading
Introducing: Maan – Pockets Full Of Change
Tag Archives: The Voice
Single Review: Sharon Doorson & Rochelle – Come To Me (feat. Rollàn)
Dutch dance divas Sharon Doorson and Rochelle join forces on new single ‘Come To Me’ featuring rapper Rollàn. Continue reading
EP Review: Cassadee Pope – Summer
Cassadee Pope returns with catchy four track EP It is already over three years ago that Cassadee Pope won The Voice in the USA. She released her debut album Frame By Frame in 2013 and had a hit with the … Continue reading
Song of the Day: Julia Zahra – Geen Held
Julia Zahra is back with a moving new single in the Dutch language! Continue reading
Interview Sandra van Nieuwland: “Negativity should never stop you from doing anything”
Sandra van Nieuwland spoke to A Bit of Pop Music about creating Breaking New Ground, living fearlessly and dealing with criticism. Continue reading
Album of the Week: Sandra van Nieuwland – Breaking New Ground
Scroll naar beneden voor Nederlands.
Sandra van Nieuwland delivers honest and personal record
Sandra van Nieuwland experienced an impressive breakthrough in 2012 when she participated in The Voice of Holland. Although she did not end up winning the show, she was the biggest hype of the season when her covers of songs like ‘Keep Your Head Up’, ‘More’ and ‘Beggin’ all ended up in the highest regions of the Dutch charts. The album with her performances And More sold bucket loads and it is safe to say it was a difficult task to follow up this success. Sandra tried her luck on her own with the strong pop debut Banging On The Doors Of Love and the successful single ‘Hunter’. Now, two years later, she is back with her second full studio album Breaking New Ground.
Single Review: Sandra van Nieuwland – Truth
Scroll naar beneden voor Nederlands.
Sandra van Nieuwland is back with the release of new single ‘Truth’
Sandra van Nieuwland caused a huge hype when she participated in The Voice of Holland. The Dutch singer’s jazzy take on Usher’s ‘More’ during the auditions made her into one of the most promising new stars of the country and every The Voice cover ended up in the highest regions of the Dutch charts. After the show she proved she could do things on her own as well when the single ‘Hunter’ did a good job on radio and in the Dutch top 40. The album Banging On The Doors of Love was released and now two years later she is back with the brand new single ‘Truth’, another strong pop tune with international appeal.
Interview Elhaida Dani: ‘I want to empower strong women with my song’
Image Source: Orsola Mema
In the coming days and weeks, I will present to you some interviews I did with the participants of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. First up is Elhaida Dani from Albania. The singer who is famous for winning the Voice of Italy, but is originally from Albania, won the national final in her country with a song in her mother tongue, but later was decided she would go to Vienna with the powerful midtempo song ‘I’m Alive’. Elhaida tells me all about the song change, what ‘I’m Alive’ is about and why she wants to empower strong women.
Single Review: Sandra van Nieuwland – Always Alone
Sandra van Nieuwland releases new single and announces album release
Sandra van Nieuwland took the Netherlands by storm when she auditioned for The Voice Of Holland. The singer immediately impressed the judges and the public with her version of Usher’s ‘More’. She did not win the show but her rendition of this song, and others she performed at the voice like ‘Keep Your Head Up’ and ‘Begging’, all became big hits and she compiled the covers on the album And More. Things got really interesting however, when she released her first official single ‘Hunter’, that she wrote herself. Now it is time for the release of second single ‘Always Alone’ and the album Banging On The Doors Of Love.
Although Van Nieuwland’s covers did extremely well charts wise, she still had to prove herself when she released her first own single ‘Hunter’. Van Nieuwland showed she does not need to release other artist’s songs in order to get hits, because ‘Hunter’ did pretty good in the Dutch charts. More importantly, it is a great pop song with a strong chorus and beautiful lyrics that definitely has an international and well produced sound to it. The fact that Van Nieuwland composed and wrote the song herself does set the bar high for her next releases.
On the 8th of November she released her second single, ‘Always Alone’. Once again the singer proves she is capable of delivering great pop tunes. ‘Always Alone’ is a slightly slower song, which describes a dysfunctional relationship. Van Nieuwland puts a lot of emotion in the lyrics as well as her vocal style. The result is a radio friendly ballad that could strike a chord with large parts of her audience, because of the well expressed and relatable lyrics. In a few hours after the release on iTunes, the song managed to climb to the top 20 in the Dutch iTunes chart. The singer will release her album, full of new songs and own compositions, Banging On The Doors Of Love on the 22nd of November, and I am looking forward to hear what else she has to offer.
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Single Recensie: Sandra van Nieuwland – Always Alone
Sandra van Nieuwland komt met tweede single en kondigt album aan
Sandra van Nieuwland veroverde Nederland in een rap tempo toen ze auditie deed voor The Voice Of Holland. De zangeres wist de jury en het publiek snel te overtuigen met haar versie van Usher’s ‘More’. Ze won het programma uiteindelijk niet, maar haar vertolkingen van deze song en andere liedjes die ze tijdens de show zong, zoals ‘Keep Your Head Up’ en ‘Begging’, werden allemaal regelrechte hits. Deze bundelde ze vervolgens op het album And More. Toch werd het pas echt interessant toen Van Nieuwland deze zomer haar eerste echte single ‘Hunter’, die ze zelf heeft geschreven, presenteerde. Nu komt ze met de tweede single ‘Always Alone’ en het album Banging On The Doors Of Love volgt al snel.
Hoewel Van Nieuwland’s covers het zeer goed deden in de hitlijsten, moest ze zichzelf nog steeds bewijzen met haar eigen materiaal toen ‘Hunter’ uitkwam. Het bleek dat Sandra andermans liedjes niet nodig heeft om te scoren, want het werd een behoorlijke hit in de Nederlandse hitlijsten. Nog belangrijker, het is een sterke poptrack met een goed refrein en een mooie songtekst, dat zeer internationaal en goed geproduceerd klinkt. De zangeres legde de lat dan ook hoog door dit als eerste eigen compositie uit te brengen.
Op 8 november kwam de opvolger ‘Always Alone’ uit. Wederom laat ze zien dat ze in staat is tot het brengen van goede popliedjes. ‘Always Alone’ is een iets langzamer liedje dat gaat over een disfunctionele relatie. De zangeres heeft veel emotie in zowel de songtekst als haar stem gelegd. Het resultaat is een radiovriendelijke ballad die zomaar eens een gevoelige snaar zou kunnen raken bij haar publiek, door de goed verwoorde en herkenbare songtekst. Binnen een paar uur na de release van het liedje wist het al naar de top 20 van Nederlandse iTunes chart te klimmen. De zangeres brengt op 22 november Banging On The Doors Of Love uit. Het is een album vol volledig nieuwe songs en eigen composities en ik ben benieuwd om te horen wat Sandra allemaal nog meer in haar mars heeft.