'Be yourself and do what you want', according to Wouter Hamel, that is the message of this album. It is no coincidence that Amaury appears exactly in the week that Amsterdam is the setting for the Canal Pride. Although Wouter Hamel came out as gay 20 years ago, he preferred to avoid the subject in interviews, afraid as he was to alienate his audience. Hamel, almost 40, says he now fully accepts
… himself. Amaury also sounds like the work of an artist who feels good about himself. The jazz influences have been pushed back for a fresh pop album with here and there a nod to the 80s. Opening track Stray Cat sounds like a hit, thanks also to the frenzied -like choirs in the chorus. Perhaps something different from what the fans of Wouter Hamel are used to, but Amaury does not sound less infectious. (PdK)more
