Max Blansjaar - False Comforts (2024) Hi-Res

Ok, so you are born in Amsterdam, raised in Oxford, and end up recording with Katie Von Schleischer in Brooklyn. That is the brief story of Max Blansjaar and his debut album False Comforts.

The main thing though is that there are quite a few comforts and nothing false, as the ten quirky pop ditties Blansjaar presents here range from ‘just’ very good to excellent. It is pop, but the sophisticated, detailed and well-thought-out kind of pop (rock) that goes beyond any of those bedroom or lo-fi categorizations some might attribute to this kind of music. Sure, you can add these two mentioned here, but Blansjaar and Von Schleischer add enough out of the blue touches to list the music on this album a few notches above.

Whether it was the fact that Blansjaar started out writing these songs back in 2020, taking a slow, detailed process in constructing them, or the fact that he exhibits a delicate songwriting touch, Schleischer influence, or all of the above, makes no difference. False Comforts bring true ones all the way.