“Strange, lovely … mysterious ★★★★” – Sylvie Simmons – Mojo Magazine
FOR RELEASE March 25
AMSTERDAM (March 21, 2022) – Amsterdam singer-songwriter, VanWyck, announces the release of her single, “Pond Floor Dwellers,” on March 25. “Pond Floor Dwellers” is a protest song aimed against the growing inequalities in today’s society, a song of revolt against our success and celebrity-obsessed times. Deep rolling drums and muddy guitars paint a dark, threatening atmosphere as an alternative anthem in name of the nameless outcasts. The single is off her fourth album, The Epic Tale of the Stranded Man, due out on April 8 through Excelsior Recordings.
In the narrative of The Epic Tale of the Stranded Man it’s the moment his sullied past catches up with him to drag him down by an army of muddy creatures. Swampy droning tones showcase how the successful and beautiful take up so much space that the others are left in a perpetual shade, to scurry around in the half-dark. The tension builds into a marching beat undertoning the coming revolt against the stranded man.
Did you really think that we’d spend all our lives
Shifting through the trash you left us in
Feeding of your primal sins
Enchanting, moody, and rich, the album vividly reflects these confusing modern times through whispered tones and cavernous themes. It’s a timeless album portraying the different ways in which modern man is lost, scared, stuck in his ways, and searching for a way out of his predicament. Twelve songs that intertwine both lyrically and harmonically. Together they tell a story about a man who washes up on a wondrous island and doesn’t remember where he came from. Is he a victim or a perpetrator? Has he escaped, or is he imprisoned? Can he be saved, or is his end near? Luckily a woman enters the stage. Will she be able to save him?
The album also speaks of these times in a broader sense: we are living on the brink of epic transitions. We know that the old ways will lead to our destruction but can’t decide on the path forward. VanWyck says, “Sometimes it feels like we are trapped in our own prisons, in our inability to take good care of each other and this wonderful planet, like we are failing in our most epic of struggles, the survival of our humanity.”
The Epic Tale of the Stranded Man Track Listing
- The Stranded Man
- I Was Innocent
- Maybe, Maybe Not
- The Havoc Wreaker
- Seaweed Seller
- Pond Floor Dwellers
- The Dragon
- Ciceline
- The Smiling Prophet
- Lola With the Light Eyes
- The Way Out
- My Baby Rides a Dark Horse
About VanWyck
Amsterdam VanWyck has drawn comparisons to Leonard Cohen and Laura Marling with her rich lyrics and sober alt-folk craft. She released her first EP, Tanned Legs, in 2015 to international acclaim. Her debut album, An Average Woman, came out in January 2018 on her own Maiden Name Records and was hailed by the Dutch music press as one of the best releases by a native artist in years. After her first extensive theatre tour was canceled because of Covid, VanWyck changed course and released a third album of intimate, acoustic songs called God is in the Detour in 2020. The album received a 4-star review in MOJO magazine and has been streamed over a million times.
Tour Dates
Tour Dates
03/26 De Amer, Amen, NL
03/31 Cultura, Ede, NL
04/03 Agnietenkapel, Gouda, NL
04/09 Theater Junushoff, Wageningen, NL
04/15 Nieuwe Nor, Heerlen, NL
04/22 MIMIK, Deventer, NL
04/23 Record Store Day, Amersfoort & Utrecht
04/23 Theater Ludens, Voorburg, NL
04/29 Schouwburg Ogterop, Meppel, NL
05/14 Theaterkerk hemels, Twisk, NL
05/15 Cool kunst en cultuur, Heerhugowaard, NL
05/22 Meervaart, Amsterdam, NL
06/04 Nijend 24, Nijend, NL
06/12 Paard, Den Haag, NL
06/17 Eindeloos Eiland Festival, Kortgene, NL
06/19 Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL
07/23 Zomer op het plein Festival, Alkmaar, NL
08/02 Alma Lov, Sunne, Sweden
Praise for The Epic Tale of the Stranded Man
Today’s Top Tune – KCRW
“Strange, lovely … mysterious ★★★★” – Sylvie Simmons – Mojo Magazine
“Multi-layered, intriguing, fascinating and irresistible – the new album from VanWyck is a perfection of storytelling 10/10” – Jonathan Aird – Americana-UK.com
“An odyssey through the fever dreams of a washed-up stranger” – Sophia Deboinck, The New European
