The originally Den Helderse group Van Dik Hout will always be remembered by Stil In Mij, the polder pop classic with which they broke through in 1994. In their subsequent career they never managed to match this success, but there were still enough smaller hits to justify a right to exist. Alles Waar Ik Nooit Begon is their seventh album and was produced by Michel Schoots (Kane, Racoon, Ilse de
… Lange). He lets the group play nice and fat, like a real band and without any frills. Singer Martin Buitenhuis, with his powerful and at the same time boyish and sometimes tearful voice, effortlessly surpasses with lyrics that are again full of profound verbosity and poetic rhetorics (Nobody Need To Be Alone) and in which a lot is directed towards the (al or not) blue sky. But just like in Stil In Mij he usually finds a catchy and powerful chorus to solve all that imagery. On Alles Waar Ik Nooit Aan Begon Van Dik Hout does not take a step forward, but they have still not forgotten how to write good songs. (MR)more
