8/10

After a flurry of dynamic delights under his belt these last few months, Dutch artist Cosmic Crooner returns with his hotly-tipped new album 'European Vacation'. The velvet-voiced enigma returns with a record that feels like slipping into a pastel linen suit and boarding a sun-drenched train bound for a place that might not exist on any map, but definitely lives in your mind.

Following the buzz of his 2023 debut 'The Perks Of Being A Hypocrite', the artist at the helm deepens his commitment to theatrical nostalgia with this immersive, retro-futurist follow-up. Built on the shoulders of jazz, soul, and cinematic dream-pop, 'European Vacation' is as lush as it is suggestive. The arrangements breathe with warmth and character, thanks in part to the production finesse of Pieter Vonk and the sweeping strings of Trey Pollard and Jesse Kotansky. You can feel the room in these recordings, the friction of real players shaping a fantasy in real time.

Tracks like 'Never Wear Your Own Merch' prove Crooner’s wry humour is still intact, while 'Private Club' quietly dismantles the myth of glamour, hiding heartbreak in decadence. Elsewhere, 'Mosquito In The Photo Booth' and 'The Balcony' revel in grainy analogue moods, evoking lonely espresso bars, Mediterranean heatwaves, and late-night glances through fogged-up glass.

The great irony of 'European Vacation' is that for all its nods to irony and detachment, it feels surprisingly vulnerable. Beneath the gloss and the knowing glances, there’s sincerity. It’s the kind of record that lets you dance through sadness with style. If you’ve ever longed for a world where records crackle with drama, where pop stardom is both a mask and a mirror, 'European Vacation' is your invitation to slip into something more comfortable.