After announcing the release of her new studio album on 20 September, charismatic Dutch singer/songwriter Charlotte Wessels unveiled the album's title together with the first single! Entitled The Obsession, the album marks Wessels' Napalm Records debut, and while her earlier solo endeavours, Tales From Six Feet Under (2021) and Tales From Six Feet Under Vol II (2022), already gained her a remarkable number of devotees, The Obsession truly takes her solo career to the next level.
The new album promises a cohesive exploration of fear and liberation, spellbinding melancholia and dark, catchy elements meeting progressive and heavier soundscapes. The storytelling within the songs gives the multifaceted album even more depth, making The Obsession an exciting listening experience and Wessels' most mature solo offering so far.
The first single and video, "The Exorcism", is astonishing proof of Wessels' matchless talent and genre-bending songwriting qualities, and, in addition, marks the heaviest solo offering. Quietly drawing the listener into this sonic sphere, the song bursts into a heavy attack shortly after. It's calm and loud, reduced and bombastic, fragile and confident alike and presents Charlotte Wessels' thrilling full vocal range - heating the anticipation for everything to come!
Charlotte Wessels comments: "I've been thinking a lot about fears and behaviours I've had since I was a child, and how at certain moments in life I thought I'd overcome them for good, but they'd always rear their ugly heads again in time. I keep wondering why. Did I invite them back in? 'The Exorcism' is a call for these demons to stay away - but also a message to myself and others facing similar challenges, to hang on - even if they don't".
The album features some guest appearances on which Charlotte Wessels says: "I'm extremely grateful and proud to add Simone Simons and Alissa White-Gluz to the line-up of this album. They are creative powerhouses that I have so much love and respect for. Whenever we get to work together is an absolute treat and they really elevated the songs with their performances".
More info on Charlotte Wessels and The Obsession is HERE. Link
The Obsession tracklist:
01. Chasing Sunsets
02. Dopamine
03. The Exorcism
04. Soulstice
05. The Crying Room
06. Ode To The West Wind
07. Serpentine
08. Praise
09. All You Are
10. Vigor And Valor
11. Breathe;
12. Soft Revolution (2024)
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"I'm sort of asking questions - where are the heroes? Where's the defiance? Where are the people who oppose this?" - Alan "Nemtheanga" Averill
"You know, the music and songs just come, and we don't distance ourselves from the music that comes out." - Jyrki 69
"It's a dark album. According to me, it's the darkest yet in our discography. It's also very suggestive, very introverted, less direct, and might be less friendly..." - Daniel Moilanen
"We only make an album when we feel genuinely inspired. You can't just say, "OK, I'm going to record a new album", because without inspiration, it would be boring." - Gregor Mackintosh
