Newness for your ears: Travel Light, Rebekka Ling

Oct 20

CarminelittaAlbum, Newness for your ears Netherlands, Rebekka Ling, Travel Light No Comments

Cover artwork for Travel Light

When I first told you about Dutch singer Rebekka Ling, she was already working on her debut album Travel Light. Giving priority to hard work and quality over trends and “hot” albums that are forgotten in a matter of weeks, the artist provides the listeners with a solid project that will be remembered as all timeless music is. She also proves that the Netherlands definitely have soul (in case we didn’t know that already…). Once again I am quite late in telling you about this, since the album came out last June (oh, how time flies!), but of course I had to do it eventually. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on such quality music and I hope you will be grateful to me for that. Now, let me tell you a bit more about Travel Light and why you need it in your life.

What I really appreciate about an artist is when they create music that is based on what they love to listen to, but they add their personal touch. While I tend to be quite open-minded and eager to discover experimental sonorities, I am always delighted to hear a good old soulful/jazzy album that makes me vibrate and touches the sentimental side of me. With Travel Light, Rebekka Ling draws influences mainly from classic soul and jazz but adds a contemporary twist, with tracks that will make you want to dance the night away, or some that flirt with broken beat. The music is really soothing, smooth as a caress and will probably be appreciated most during late evening and early night listening/dancing sessions. In addition to the beautiful soundscapes created on every single song, Rebekka’s voice is flawless, sounding like it’s coming out of the soul of a singer from the 1980-90′s living in the body of a young woman in the 2000′s. I was even impressed by how amazing she sounds, as the title track I had heard many, many months ago didn’t really prepare me to such vocal quality. As if the beautiful music and vocals were not enough to enchant me, the lyrics are quite well-written and deal with the eternal topics of life and love. This, of course, may not sound very original, since most soul albums spread similar messages, but it is always interesting to discover an artist’s personal experiences and how they creatively express them. Most songs actually present the different sides of love and describe how relationships evolve, from bliss to heartaches, in ways that are very easy to relate to. From Higher and Fly Away to Missing You or Without Love (probably my favourite track), Rebekka shares her joys and her pains in a very open and touching way. Overall a very pleasing sonic experience, Travel Light calls for repeated listens, whenever you need a little uplifting music. Whereas some of the songs may be slightly less optimistic than others, they still retain a positive element and help you keep your head up while believing in betters day to come. The whole album is like the sunshine after the rain, a hot chocolate on a cold day, or whatever it is that makes you feel good and puts a smile on your face.

Now that you know a little bit more about Rebekka Ling and Travel Light, you can purchase the album via . In case you need any more convincing, listen to one of my favourites tracks, Missing You.