New music to listen to this week: Pitou

Now Hear This

Pitou (Kasper van Steveninck)

Amsterdam-born artist Pitou has one of the most arresting voices to emerge from this year, drawing comparisons to the likes of Laura Marling and Julia Holter.

She crafts intelligent folk-pop that balances the darkness and light of human emotion, and is currently preparing to release her second EP, following the release of her self-titled debut last year.

We're premiering the fantastic video for her song "Problems", made in collaboration with Studio Alias.

Check it out below:

Q&A with Pitou

What are you listening to at the moment?

I'm listening to Daniel Johnston (the live session he did with KCRW brought a tear to my eye), Aldous Harding, Luwten, The Visual, Tamino. I'm trying to catch up with all the beautiful classical music that's been written in the past centuries (an impossible task), and I love Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, Eastern-European choir music. I think I'll never get tired of those sounds and harmonies, they're otherworldly.

What are your plans for 2018?

I'm releasing a second EP, on which I am working at the moment. I will be playing some nice festivals, one of which is The Great Escape. This second EP is going to be quite dark lyric-wise, honestly I think life over all can be quite dark, and I'm looking forward to providing a counterbalance to that for myself. Humour is a wonderful antidote.

What was the first gig you ever played?

One of my first times on stage was as a 10-year old. I participated in a singing competition. I was quite a shy and non-communicative child, so my parents were very surprised that I wanted to participate. They were afraid that I would walk off the stage seeing the big crowd, but I can't remember being afraid.

What's been the best so far?

Being born, singing, making music, meeting humans and loving them.