Marlene Bakker is a rare appearance in the Dutch music scene. She’s a one of a kind singer/songwriter with a distinguished sound and is blessed with a stunning deep voice that you just have to listen to. Her music has an entirely unique place within the music industry because she writes and sings in a dialect called Gronings. This dialect is spoken in the province of Groningen and is part of the Dutch Low Saxon language that covers the northeastern part of the Netherlands.


In 2018 Marlene officially released her highly praised debut album RAIF. Her first single 'Waarkhanden' is about going back to your hometown and roots after having been away for a long time. The feeling of being homesick together with the fear of going back are mixed in this song, in which you can conclude that blood is thicker than water.

Marlene Bakker's long-awaited new album 'Oaventuren' was released in September. While people often anxiously await the 'difficult second album', Marlene knows how to wipe away any doubts because her album Oaventuren is once again showered with great reviews. Eric Scipio van Domburg wrote; "While Raif was a big surprise five years ago, with Oaventuren Bakker proves that she is certainly not inferior to an album sung in Dutch or English, released by a major record company." (4½ stars, - Heaven Magazine)

Never before was the Groninger dialect connected to cinematic arrangements that sound so contemporary, in which the songs of a singer-songwriter are carefully draped in dreamy and broad sounds. Raif is a unique listening experience, a serene and melancholic spell which is lovingly crafted and captured into sound. Somehow it's just incredibly romantic.