June 14, 2024
We started talking to you about Sven Ross in May 2021. It's been 3 years since the artist who divides his life between Amsterdam and London has been showering us with songs, each one more wonderful than the last. Sometimes pop, sometimes folk, with great effectiveness in his lyrics and captivating melodies.
Today his new single "Pool Party Pictures" is released, and this is his 5th feature on IMC! If you have been following us for a while, you will have understood that after 5 features, the artists join the IMC Family. This means you can trust them to never disappoint you with every release. We therefore warmly welcome Sven Ross to the IMC Family, and we are sure that the conversations within the group chat with other artists will be excellent!
And this release isn't just good, it's stunning! Indeed, upon first listening, we notice a radical change in the musical universe of Sven Ross, who had until then accustomed us to a lot of melancholy and love ballads. This new song is an up-tempo folk-pop song with boundless energy, a super catchy chorus, and which makes you want to dance or take a road trip. Did he put his fingers in an electrical outlet? Yes, it's possible, but we would rather say that he was struck by a flash of genius because despite appearances, this song is not that festive!
Indeed, Sven Ross saw beach photos in 2021 as the Netherlands broke a heat record. The media then relayed the information as being good news. We too were confronted with these images, especially on TV news, as recently as this year, in March, when it was already 30°C (86°F). We all remember the interviews with people who came to the beach that day to enjoy the sun and who all said the same thing: "It's great, but it's not normal in March!". And the media only retained the first part of the testimony: it's great. No, it's not really great. We have experienced temperatures here of around 42°C (108°F) in 2021 and 2022, with a period of drought in 2022 which means that we have found thousands of dead, dehydrated birds in our marshes and this is not great at all.
The artist therefore wanted to express his astonishment at these hallucinatory images and began to write "Pool Party Pictures", which despite its joyful side, is also a protest song. Climate change is real and we can't ignore it forever, as Sven says:
"I want to use my voice as an artist to convey the urgency of the climate crisis. I imagine people enjoying 'Pool Party Pictures' playing on the car radio during a road trip - but when they listen to the lyrics they can't ignore the fact that it is a rock solid protest song".
The writing is ambitious, full of winks and allusions to get the message across, and it works. The song was co-written with his long-time collaborator Ernst van Dusseldorp, then mixed in London by Paul Stanborough (who has worked with Janet Jackson and Tina Turner). And Paul is Guy Chambers' former assistant. If this name doesn't mean anything to you, just know that Guy is behind all of Robbie Williams' biggest hits. In short, Sven knew how to surround himself with professionals in the field who allowed “Pool Party Pictures” to have the strong impact it has today.
Of course, as you know, we always put our readers first and it's you who we're addressing once again: by banking on Sven Ross to accompany your daily life in your playlists, you are banking on the good artist. He never disappoints, and this double-meaning song proves it, just like his outings into the street to play his new songs directly to passers-by, just to know what they think of them. An accessible artist, who continues to grow and who will continue to amaze us in the future, it is inevitable. A well-deserved integration into the IMC Family.