Sand

Led by Jinte Deprez and Maarten Devoldere who unite both on writing duties and as frontmen, Balthazar never repeat themselves, and having excelled in numerous styles and genres – "Rats"' classic pop and Gainsbourg-esque swagger; "Thin Walls"' groove-laden, grizzled indie-rock – their new album "Sand" confirms their songwriting talent and legacy as fearless innovators and restless creatives. It’s also a record infused with a special sense of poise and grace and inspired by the joy they find playing live.

There is a theme for "Sand", but one that only revealed itself as they were writing and recording; time. Or rather, more specifically, “waiting, restlessness, not being able to live in the moment or putting your trust into the future,” they say. “We’re at a point in our lives when we have to consider these aspects of life, and that’s why the album is called Sand – after the sand in an hourglass.”

Hence the artwork, a photo of piece by renowned Dutch sculptor Margriet Van Breevort who specialises in hyper-realistic sculptures. Titled “Humunculus Loxodontus, AKA The One Who Waits”, and originally commissioned by a medical centre in Holland, it represents, says Devoldre, “the way you feel when in a waiting room, obliged to wait and feeling self-conscious and awkward. The more we researched it, the more it fitted the idea of the album.”"And waiting, that sense of everything being on pause is, of course, currently a very apt concept. The double meaning is, admits Deprez, “kind of fitting”.

And so for now, just like Humunculus Loxodontus, Balthazar must wait, poised to take these songs on the road and spread the joy of live music and human connection. To feel alive. “We just want to share it with people, you know?” says Devoldre, “and we can’t wait to play it live.”