The Bullfight - Amen, Demon (2023)

The Bullfight is not a punk outfit from Madrid or something like that, but a pop-noir band that originated in Rotterdam, active for 20 years. Their new 10-track album Amen, Demon is a beautiful effort in itself, but is also the soundtrack to band member Thomas van der Vliet’s debut novel Het Interview (to make matters even more complicated, the audio version of the book is supported by another 14 – instrumental – tunes that form the score of the novel). We limit ourselves here to the vocal songs, ballads sung alternately by Nick Verhoeven and longtime collaborator Daisy Cools (with the short, cheerful instrumental Brad Pitt as an outlier), and those alone are already very worthwhile. Refined, mysterious, adventurous, moody, sensitive, melancholic, Nick Cave-esque, subdued, clever – just some thoughts that arise. The video for All That’s Left (you might spot some familiar faces) gives a good idea of what to expect.