Van Houten: ‘This EP is very personal’

Describing themselves as “slacker pop with a cherry on top”, the five-piece are able to capture fuzzy nostalgia in the palms of their hands, whilst others miss the mark by a mile. It’s this that makes Van Houten special, and new EP Home Alone feels like a deeply personal triumph.

Formed in 2017 out of Leeds College of Music, it didn’t take long for the band to grab the attention of those over at Clue Records, the label now releasing the psychedelic collective’s most recent venture. Born out of the chaos of lockdown, it comes as a surprise that there’s no real disorder to be found sonically on this EP; wistful and reassuring, Home Alone’s comforting nature avoids triviality and instead strives to keep people grounded.

The world is provocative enough without further incitement of anger and aggravation, and Van Houten seem to acknowledge this with their more tender approach to dealing with tricky subjects.

On the themes of this EP, frontman Louis Sadler says “It’s very personal. The song Not Me is a deep exploration of personal insecurity and anxiety, and You And Me reflects on the darker side of love and relationships, trying my best to help situations but ultimately making things worse through my actions.”

It’s clear that Home Alone is Sadler wearing his heart on his sleeve, who over the last few months has written and recorded the entirety of the project, par the bells and whistles. Shying away from the studio, the sound Van Houten strive for isn’t necessarily one of a polished nature, but one that envelopes warmth and longing, most successfully recreated in the privacy of your own home. And with so many months tucked away, it’s no wonder that the record feels so tightly put together, with nearly all of lockdown being dedicated to perfecting it start to finish.

Without the ability to tour and play music for the majority of the year, there was an anxious feeling of ‘rat in a cage’ for all creatives, until drips and drabs of live music started to seep through the cracks again over the last few months, finally bringing a sense of relief to artists and music lovers everywhere. Van Houten made it to the final hurdle.

With two gigs planned at Belgrave Music Hall for November 11th and 15th, the band were full of excitement and anticipation for what was going to be their first socially distanced event. “It’s not ideal,” Sadler admits. “We can’t quite have the same atmosphere as we’d like to, but we’re so pleased to be showing new material and our live sound after so long away!”

Admittedly, the interview didn’t age well.

Hours after this phone call with the band, news swept in of the country shutting down once again, taking with it any chance of a gig in the coming weeks. Alas, despite the second lockdown, it doesn’t take away all that’s there to look forward to, with their EP still set to be released to the world in the coming weeks.

The Home Alone EP is out on November 13 on Clue Records, and is available for purchase both digitally and on cassette from Van Houten’s Bandcamp page: https://vanhoutenuk.bandcamp.com/