Caroline van der Leeuw is known by the stage name Caro Emerald. Caro Emerald became a worldwide success, but Caroline felt increasingly out of place in the image and decided to stop. She formed the band The Jordan, a translation of the Amsterdam Jordaan, where her roots lie.
It’s of course very bold to have great success at home and abroad under the name Caro Emerald and then suddenly decide to distance yourself from the accessible ballroom jazz, cinematic tangos and groovy jazz songs your audience loves so much. The Jordan already had more than 500,000 streams on her first two tracks ('You Don't Even Know Me' and 'Naked in the Sun'), despite no one knowing anything about her and her minimal presence on social media.
Nowhere Near The Sky
The debut album Nowhere Near The Sky was released on 10 February 2022. It has become a very personal record. The album was produced by David Kosten, known for his work with Bat For Lashes, Chris Martin, The Flaming Lips and Everything Everything.
The music of Van der Leeuw is still cinematic, but the music on Nowhere Near The Sky has a much deeper layer. A big contrast with the cheerfulness of, for example, Stuck, one of the hits from the Caro Emerald period. The Jordan convincingly jumps from restrained with quiet songs like The Room, Mmm and You Don’t Even Know Me to bombastic grandeur in mid-tempo songs like You Will Never Make Me Cry Again, Waste Me and Someone New. The latter two would actually fit perfectly as title songs for a crime series. In Best Damn Day, The Jordan builds tension by starting somewhat dark and gloomy, but when the chorus starts, the song suddenly turns into a James Bond anthem. On Nothing New, there is a pleasant guest contribution from Koen de Witte, singer/guitarist of the Maastricht band Solomon. A man with a seasoned voice that colours beautifully against The Jordan’s clear vocals.
It’s no secret that the singer has been inspired by Massive Attack and Portishead. Listen to the music of these bands and you’ll know she’s right. Pop music with sometimes a darker edge and many trip-hop influences. It also reminds you of the Billie Eilishes and Lana Del Reys of this world.
Nowhere Near The Sky is a very pleasant debut from a seasoned artist who knows what she’s doing and finally makes the music she fully stands behind. It’s a record that passes by like a soundtrack. One you want to experience fully from start to finish. Best Damn Day and Naked in the Sun are a few highlights of this record; it’s actually artisanal listening pop from the eighties, but with modern elements, such as sucking drums and basses from dubstep, and a bit of trip-hop.
Whether this music will fill large venues, like Caro Emerald did for example at the Royal Albert Hall, is debatable. Why? Because this is different fare. Less commercial and less suitable for radio stations, so The Jordan will have to work harder to reach large crowds.
Source: various websites Photo: press photo new album