Calicos

Two years after the release of debut album The Soft Landing, a new age dawns for Calicos (dropping ‘The’), including a thorough makeover: three of the six band members are new, and by joining Peter Verstraelen Agency, Calicos now have the same booking agent as fellow label artists Marble Sounds, Mooneye and Meskerem Mees.

2021’s The Soft Landing had already proven that the band’s indie americana has its place in the Belgian music landscape. The record received critical acclaim and easily found its way to the public, after already having scored a huge indie hit with lead single ‘Nova’ the year before. The six-piece also never failed to impress a crowd live, topped off with the instantly recognizable angelic voice of frontman Quinten Vermaelen. Just three years after their triumph at the country’s renowned Humo's Rock Rally contest, Calicos had already fulfilled their promise.

So how does the ‘new ‘Calicos sound? Different, but also not very different. Yes, the music does move towards a heavier and more alternative sound akin to that of a Sharon Van Etten or Kurt Vile, but the band doesn’t forsake its signature alt/country music. Comparisons with Jonathan Wilson and – maybe even most of all – The War On Drugs still hold up, and you can add the epic 80s pop rock sound of living legend Bruce Springsteen to that. Check out the jubilant indie americana of brand-new single ‘Comedown’: cruising with the car window down, arm out, and this song blasting out at full volume. That feeling.

Calicos are also cruising into 2023, on their way to album number 2, expected to be released in the spring of 2024. And if ‘Comedown’ is an indication of everything that is to come in the next couple of months, we shouldn’t be surprised if Calicos become the Belgian indie sensation of the year.