I’ve been getting a lot of music lately and I’m grateful for that! It makes what I do helluva fun! From official releases to sneaky-peeks, it all find their way to my mailbox.

I was going through a lot of dance music and so-called auto-tune tracks, when Will Larsen dropped Aylin Eser’s EP “Arrows Of Desire” on me for my listening pleasure. And let me tell ya, a pleasure it is! The use of real instruments, the arrangement, Aylin’s voice, it all comes together! It’s just THAT smooth!

How would I describe Aylin after listening to her EP? I would say it’s Norah Jones-ish, but with a smooth twist? Why trying to compare her with someone else, if I can get to know her a lil’ better and let her tell us who she is! So I hooked up with the Australian singer/songwriter and we talked about her roots, how she met Will, if she’s gonna record a music video for the 4th track of her EP and what she has planned for 2013:

The Dutch Guy (TDG): Can I borrow 20 bucks? There’s an EP I like to get…

Aylin Eser (AE): Ummm nooo… Especially not when my EP only costs $3.95!! 😉

TDG: Can you describe yourself in one sentence?

AE: No. One sentence is too short. I’m far too complicated for that. 🙂

TDG: What are your roots and how would you describe your sound?

AE: Will (TDG: Will Larsen) is a classically trained musician. He went right through University training to be an orchestral musician and he went on to play professionally with several opera and ballet companies, symphony orchestras and quite a few internationally famous classical singers too. So because of that background you’ll often find orchestral elements in our songs – whether that’s in a chord progression or some of the instruments used in the arrangement. At the same time, he’s also heavily influenced by late 60’s/early 70’s pop icons like Harry Nilsson, Burt Bacharach, John Lennon and Jeff Lynne. So there’s this weird and strange, but kind of wonderful combination of extremes going on already there already.

And then I sing over the top of all that!! I love people like Nina Simone and Etta James, real soulful singers with a depth and richness to their sound. People will often pick out one or two of all those influences we have, but never all of them. What I really love though, is when someone says we sound like someone we hadn’t even thought of… one very prominent industry exec thought “Arrows of Desire” sounded like Radiohead!! Will and I laugh at that but at the same time, we’ll take that kind of compliment any day!! 🙂