Surinamese / Dutch folk-pop singer-songwriter néomí announces her second EP 'after' due for release April 14th via [PIAS] + new single 'skipping stone'
After recently returning to deliver her stunning comeback single ‘red balloon’, her first new release since delivering her highly-praised debut EP ‘before’, which garnered one million streams and 125k Spotify monthly listeners as well as landing her first global Apple Music playlists in ‘Breaking Singer/Songwriter’ and ‘New in Singer-Songwriter’, néomí, aka Surinamese/Dutch folk-pop singer-songwriter Neomi Speelman, continues her vibrant ascent with the announcement of her second EP ‘After’, which is set for release on April 14th through PIAS and showcased by the captivating new delight ‘skipping stone’. Over the course of the six tracks on néomí’s ‘after’ EP she demonstrates her emotional intelligence and beautifully bares her soul.
While her recent release ‘red balloon’ continued to explore the more humbled side to her sweeping aesthetic, ‘skipping stone’ makes for a far more intense and atmospheric listen. Blending her warm and heartfelt voice with euphoric production throughout, she soars out of this new offering like never before, creating a wonderfully broad and vivid experience.
Speaking about ‘skipping stone’, she said, "I remember myself writing this with my dear friend Jesse Koch, while I had just fallen in love with someone. That someone was going through a difficult time, and in those moments of our relationship I felt like a skipping stone: picked up and thrown over the water, as if I was nothing to him. When I was younger my Dad and I would go down to the river in France to find those flat stones and he would try to teach me how to skip them over the water. I always got frustrated doing it and it’s the image that came to my mind when writing this song.
"I felt so insecure, not about me or my lover individually but the love we had. I couldn't understand why he wouldn't allow me to let me in. It felt unfair because I was letting him in, and he just threw me away, like I was his skipping stone to sink somewhere in the lake."
after EP track listing:
skipping stone
red balloon
lies made out of love
oblivious
oh my darling
i could never leave
Having recently supported fellow PIAS label mate Jonathan Jeremiah on his recent tour of the Netherlands, playing to audiences of between 750 – 1000 each evening, néomí has announced her debut headline show at Paradiso, Amsterdam on May 7th to tie in with her second EP release. Tickets on sale now HERE.
2020 was set to be the breakout year for néomí as she recorded her first singles with British engineer/producer Edd Hartwell (Tom Walker, Birdy, Tom Odell), supported singer-songwriting legend Don McLean and was also invited to the UK to play her first shows abroad. However, the out-break of a pandemic quickly followed by a life-changing event scuppered these plans with néomí using the next 12 months to develop as a songwriter and add to her growing catalogue of songs. Now, with the world returning to normality, néomí finds herself signed to [PIAS] with dozens of songs ready and waiting to be uncaged and take flight.
néomí: “It hurt me that I couldn't connect with people last year through my music, but I know now even more, that when the time comes, we will connect. And I hope people are just as eager as me to experience my music together. Like an artist I admire much once said: “the music has served me, now let the music serve you.”
As a youngster néomí’s first step into music didn’t exactly start on the right foot. After begrudgingly attending piano lessons as a child, when she was given the choice, the unimpressed Neomi quit and vowed never to play music again. I wasn’t until years later, during a browse on a popular Internet video website that she stumbled across a live video of Ben Howard performing ‘Old Pine’ with a cellist in tow. Spellbound and inspired, néomí came out of her musical retirement, picked up a guitar and began teaching herself how to play from online tutorials.
As a teenager, néomí was invited to audition for a music school in Amsterdam despite being a year too young to apply. Luckily the administrative error was overlooked as néomí was accepted on her raw talent and potential. Over the next 4 years she would hone her song writing and sound, her main influences stemming between Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, and Ben Howard. She says of the trio “their lyrics are outstanding and insanely beautiful. I don’t think they make songs, but they make art, poems. That’s something I also really try to do; make little poems instead of songs.”
néomí released her debut 5 song EP ‘before’ on June 24th 2022 via [PIAS] which was supported by CLASH, The Independent, GIGWISE, Under The Radar, La Blogotheque, Cool Hunting, Ones To Watch, LOCK Mag, Record Of The Day (Song of the Day for each track) and many more. She soon found herself opening for Novo Amor, HAEVN, The Slow Show and Celine Cairo on their 2022 shows in the Netherlands and was named both OOR and 3voor12 Talent for the upcoming Popronde tour.
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