Based in Maastricht (near Belgian border) in the South-East of Holland, Lesoir is a Dutch quartet consisting of singer/ pianist/ acoustic guitar player Maartje Meesen, (electric) guitarist Ingo Daasen, bassist Dachuan Lu and drummer Rubel Israel whom, on stage, are usually fortified by multi-instrumentalist (she plays guitar, keyboards and percussion) and backing singer Eleen Bartholomeus.
In 2009, the band recorded its self-titled debut album at Brussels (capitol of Belgium) based Jet Studio with producer Rudy Coclet (known from having worked with such renowned Belgian artists as Arno and An Pierlé), and self-released it in the Summer of 2010 to a multitude of positive reviews, leading also to airplay on Belgian national radio. In their hunger for international recognition, the band crosses the Channel during the summer of 2011 for a two-week tour of the UK. During that stint the band happenstances across top producer John Cornfield (known from his work with the likes of Muse, Katatonia, Stone Roses and others), and he would eventually mix the sound on several of their UK shows. Thus both a personal and musical friendship is put to bloom, which grows even more in the months to follow...with as a result that a wish to work together is spoken out from both sides, and a deal is made to record the band's sophomore album during Summer 2012.
From then on, the band puts every effort into writing new material, and eventually goes into pre-production of the album 5 months prior to its recording. Very soon it becomes apparent that the new music slants towards a slightly different direction...still intense and bombastic as on the first platter, but less heavy and this time more melancholic in places. By the time the band entered the studio, they were so well-rehearsed, that Cornfield could not hold himself from commenting, “I really enjoyed sitting back listening to it as a complete piece of work, well done chaps!”.
During pre-production, the band came up with the daring idea to take their music into Asia after the recording sessions. At first, they thought of Japan, due to the “Big in Japan” syndrome one hears so much about, but eventually they opt for the bassist's home country China. The timing turned out to be perfect. Several booking agents were contacted, and within a short while the guys were booked for a 3-week Summer tour of China, which would find 'em lay down a distance of some 14.000 km, and see 'em playing at sold-out clubs as well as perform at a festival the size of Pinkpop! Upon their return, the band put their time in the mixing and mastering of the album. For the latter, Brian Lucey (think Sigur Ros, The Black Keys, and many others – he'd already worked on several songs with the band in the past) was contracted, and with a finished album the band signed to V2 Records in the Fall of 2012!
Meanwhile, the band returned to China for another 3 weeks of touring in April and May, taking in both festivals and club venues, and with an appearance at the prestigious Midi festival in Shenzhen as the apotheosis!
In their own words (on facebook page), the band describes its music as “Heavy, but with a lot of room for dynamics and atmosphere. A raw, pure, dark sound with emotion as its center. Lesoir's set goes from fragility and whispering, to chaos and heavy sounds, without loosing the melody of each song,” which sounds nice, but doesn't do a lot to give an actual description. However, on that same page the band also mentiones to like such acts as Skunk Anansie, A perfect Circle, Tool, Pink Floyd and Alanis Morissette, and perhaps one can make a better idea from a combination of those. Still, nothing's better for getting what a band's about, than listening to the band's music...therefore, check out the videos the band posted at (http://.) nl-nl.acabook.com/lesoir.band. I'm sure that anyone into female-fronted bands will agree that Lesoir is a great asset to the music business. Teddy Hillaert of Livenation mentioned in an interview on Belgian national radio station Studio Brussel, “As far as I am concerned they can immediately go onto all better Summer festivals”, and I'll venture further by stating that this band would do great on àny international festival, including festivals geared traditionally towards “heavier” music! I mean, the band's successes in China and the UK sure are sufficient proof of that!
Hum (languid sigh)...another contender for the “Best Albums Of 2013” lists?