Never have I ever not stop listening to Blanks, and you should too. Come hear his latest
Photo Credit Jantina Talsma
Netherlands-hailed indie-pop artist and YouTube star Blanks has announced his debut album “Nothing Last Forever and That’s OK”, slated for release on October 29th. As executive producer, Blanks wrote, composed, and produced the majority of the album himself, showcasing his incredible talents as a multi-instrumentalist in the process. The collection of songs takes the listener on a journey through Blanks’ own memories, pulling inspiration from the good and the bad, including his first love, spending summers with friends, and tragically losing his best friend at a young age. Inspired by the sounds of popular music at the time and flipped with a modern approach, Blanks has created a contemporary indie-pop album that invites the listener to make their own treasured memories with this album as the soundtrack. Released today is the fourth single of the album, “Never Have I Ever” - an upbeat bop with instant feel-good vibes. Watch the premiere with Ones to Watch HERE.
Co-produced by Blanks and Joonas Parkkonen, “Never Have I Ever” incorporates retro-style synths, big anthemic vocals, and unforgettable pop hooks right in time for those end-of-summer feels. “Never Have I Ever” is a song for the people in your life that get you excited, make you try new things, make you feel alive. To me, this is the song I want to scream the lyrics to in the car with my closest friends while we’re going on a road trip, ending up somewhere unexpected, building a fire or watching the stars“ explains Blanks. “I wrote this song together with Joonas and writer Eirik Næss over Zoom, where Joonas was in Finland, Eirik was in the Maldives, and I was in the Netherlands. It’s still crazy to me how we managed to write this banger like that. I guess it was a combination of Scandinavian music magic, Maldives good vibes and excitement!”
Accompanying the album are five thematic music videos. When watched in succession, they tell the coming of age love story of Emma and Erik (played by Blanks). The fourth video in the series, “Never Have I Ever”, finds the couple having a blast at a beach party with friends. The good times roll as the group sings songs and dance around the fire. Our love birds appear to be falling more in love by the minute, that is until Emma, furious at something Erik has done, storms out of the party. Fans will have to wait until the fifth installment to find out how the beautifully chronicled story ends.
Outside of his original work, you might be familiar with Blanks via his ultra-popular YouTube channel “Music By Blanks”, where he posts his famed “STYLE SWAP” series, reproducing trending songs Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” and Post Malone’s “Better Now” with an unexpected genre twist. The latter of which went viral with over 9.5 million views and over 19 million streams. Since launching his YouTube channel in 2013, Blanks has risen rapidly in both the social media and music spheres, building a follower base of over 1.3M on YouTube and accumulating millions of views on his TikTok. In addition to his album, Blanks is gearing up to embark on his sold-out UK and Europe tour in October and November.
Stay tuned for more music from this rising indie-pop phenomenon very soon.
Quotes provided by Blanks fans, who know him more than we do. Enjoy!
ABOUT BLANKS:
Remember the song that played during that amazing summer with your friends? And the happy but melancholic way it makes you feel now? That’s what Blanks wants with his music. And with his debut album, ‘Nothing Lasts Forever, And That’s OK’ which is set for release on October 29th, he’s ready to make you feel just that.
Starting out as a bedroom producer at his parental home, the 24-year-old songwriter is already the most promising indie-pop artist from the Netherlands. Traveling the world as the “overexcited music boy” he is, not even a pandemic could bring down his spirit. Blanks stayed optimistic as always and immediately wrote and released an uplifting quarantine song with quirky dance moves on top.
He’s always looking for ways to connect with his fans and thanks to social media they are more engaged than ever. That makes Blanks part of the next wave of artists like Conan Gray, Troye Sivan, and Shawn Mendes, who were able to receive mainstream success thanks to their highly engaged online fanbases.
While playing around on Instagram, Blanks frequently asks his followers to contribute ideas during his songwriting process, resulting in instant bops like ‘Wave’, ‘Bittersweet’ and ‘Higher’. His YouTube channel “Music by Blanks” currently has over 1.3 million subscribers and expresses his unlimited love for music, e.g. during his “Blanks Invites” series which led to studio collaborations with Alfie Templeman, Dayglow, San Holo, and Sheppard. Besides his artist project, Blanks also mentors an online songwriting and production class, amongst others like Charlie Puth, Ryan Tedder, and Louis Bell.
With a sold-out EU & NL tour ahead in October & November, Blanks is expanding his online presence to offline as well. Playing major showcase festivals like ESNS, New York Indie Week, and Reeperbahn, headlining VidCon London 2020, making an appearance on MTV’s TRL, and getting nominated for an MTV Push Award, he is gearing up to captivate a whole new audience with his overexcited and enthusiastic personality on stages all around the world.
BLANKS online: