Louise Van Den Heuvel: Sonic Hug
5th April 2024
Louise van den Heuvel is a dynamic Dutch bass player and composer.
She's known for blending modern music technologies and effect pedals in her compositions rooted in the contemporary electronic/jazz scene.
Louise founded the up-and-coming Belgian electronic jazz trio Dishwasher_, collaborated with renowned artists on stage such as Zwangere Guy & Lander Gyselinck and Bruno Vansina Orchestra, and is part of Stéphane Gallands ‘The Rhythm Hunters’,The Gallands, and the neo soul group STACE. For her latest project, Sonic Hug, Louise composed the whole repertoire by herself.
The self-titled album, recorded with producer Koen Gisen, features a stellar line-up of some of the leading figures in the Benelux (jazz) scene: Hendrik Lasureon keys, Daniel Jonkerson drums and Sam Comerfordon reeds (live replaced by Werend Van Den Bossche).
The band is set to play a Jazz Lab tour in April and May 2024 after their album release on 5th of April 2024 via W.E.R.F. Records.Her own creations expose themselves as elaborated melancholic songs filled with elegant grooves, crystalline vocals and experimental jazz excursions. She’s brilliantly using her own musical voice, literally, since you will also hear her sing (for the first time!) on some of the tracks.
Surrounded by three musicians in the front of the new Belgian jazz generation (known from acts such as schntzl, Bombataz, Profound Observer, OttoKintet, Dishwasher_,KinGajo, ...) Sonic Hug became a very personal, unique new project. Influenced by the sounds of Scandinavia and artists such as ADHD, Nala Sinephro, Floating Points, Y Otis and Joni Mitchell, the vibe of Sonic Hug is etheric, elegant, melodically narrative, and always searching for a grasping groove.