OUT JANUARY 11TH THROUGH [PIAS]
SXSW 2024 PERFORMANCE CONFIRMED
PRAISE FOR NEOMI
“Intricate, intimate, texturally spare, lyrically observational and arresting, the six songs are like snapshots that capture your attention and draw you in.” – SUNDAY TIMES ‘Breaking Act’
“néomí has shared a beautiful, introspective release “skipping stone”. From the raw lyricism to the artist’s somber delivery and angelic harmonies, this release is just as captivating as its storyline.” – THE LINE OF BEST FIT
“a folksy beauty in the school of For Emma, Forever Ago or even Ben Howard’s Every Kingdom. Folk songwriting at its finest complete with spine-tingling ‘oohs’ and a mellow guitar solo.” – GIGWISE
“Singer/songwriter néomí dives into the heartbreak, the healing, and everything else that went into her breathtakingly vulnerable and beautifully raw sophomore EP ‘after.'” – ATWOOD MAGAZINE
“Recording under the moniker néomí, Speelman crafts soul-stirring chamber pop and ethereal folk” – UNDER THE RADAR
“Harnessing her vocal power and injecting her inherent talent for hooking you in with the winding narratives, néomí is an artist who deserves to be noticed and adored.” – EARMILK
HEADLINE SHOW MAY 25TH 2024 @ TOLHUISTUIN, AMSTERDAM TICKETS ON SALE – HERE
With her stunning recent singles “garden” and the BBC 6Music-supported “your girl” perfectly following up her stunning second EP ‘after’, released in April 2023, and which found support with the likes of the Sunday Times (Breaking Act), The Independent (Spotlight Artist), The Line of Best Fit, NOTION, Songwriting Magazine, WONDERLAND, and Record of the Day, néomí, aka Surinamese/Dutch folk-pop singer-songwriter Neomi Speelman, kick starts 2024 with her vibrant new offering “somebody’s daughter“.
Ending 2023 on a high, on Dec 6th néomí was announced to perform at the prestigious SXSW Festival in Austin Texas taking place in March 2024. Not to mention she’ll be performing at ESNS (Eurosonic Festival) 2024, being named as one of Dutch national magazine NRC’s ‘Rising Stars’, an Entertainment Business interview as a ‘2024 upcoming act’, and recently being invited to perform on 3FM’s ‘Serious Request’. “somebody’s daughter” highlights exactly why so many have been flocking to her lately. With a richer and more buoyant production this time around, she delivers a beautifully arranged and emotive offering that caps off her 2023 in jubilant style.
Adding about the new release, she said, “The track ‘somebody’s daughter’ was written in the same week as the single ‘your girl’. As I was still in that same mood (pained and angry by misunderstanding words by others) I was writing more and more while carrying these unknown feelings around. To me ‘somebody’s daughter’ feels quite heavy as the message is really: whatever a person does, don’t forget he or she will still be someone’s kid. Times can get rough, and being mad on one another is healthy, but to forget the humanity behind a face can feel a bit cruel. I felt left out by that time, by people I saw as family. I am not saying that was their fault, or even mine, it was a feeling that I carried inside and wrote about.
“The song developed itself by taking me on its own story. All of a sudden I felt a bit more rage and anger for all the daughters (even boy, girl or non) that were mistreated on behaviour they were judged about. It is a sort of “cry for help” like hey I am juggling through life too. Just like you and you and you, don’t forget I am still somebody’s daughter. Why are we alive if you can’t make mistakes, and what did I do by loving them all that time and getting just a simple rejection in return. Somehow in that state I was in, it didn’t feel fair. As if they forgot I am still somebody’s daughter.”
néomí is the moniker for folk-pop singer-songwriter Neomi Speelman who writes authentic and sincere stories backed by dreamy soundscapes inspired by the classic folk songwriters, old and new alike.
Although born in The Netherlands, Neomi is half Dutch/Surinamese after her mother moved from Suriname as a child. As a youngster, Neomi’s first step into music didn’t exactly start on the right foot when she was told she had to attend piano tuitions. It was agreed that Neomi would attend the lessons for 5 years and afterwards she could decide whether to continue or not. Nevertheless 5 years passed and the unimpressed Neomi quit the piano and vowed never to play music again.
4 years would float by until Neomi would find herself at a musical junction. During a browse on a popular Internet video website she stumbled across a live video of Ben Howard performing ‘Old Pine’ with a cellist in tow. Spellbound and inspired, Neomi came out of her musical retirement, picked up a guitar and began teaching herself how to play from online tutorials.
As her skill and confidence grew, Neomi applied to music schools and, due to an administrative error, was invited to audition in Amsterdam. Despite being too young to apply, she was offered a place at the school based on her raw talent and potential. Over the next 4 years she would hone her songwriting and sound, her main influences stemming between Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, and hero Ben Howard. She says of the trio “their lyrics are outstanding and insanely beautiful. I don’t think they make songs, but they make art, poems. Thats something I also really try to do; make little poems instead of songs.”
néomí released her debut 5 song EP ‘before‘. on June 24th 2022 via [PIAS] which has garnered 3 million streams to date. She supported Novo Amor, HAEVN, The Slow Show and Jonathan Jeremiah on their 2022 shows in The Netherlands and was named both OOR and 3voor12 Talent for the end of year Popronde tour. After performing at ESNS 2023 she was voted the #5 best act by 3voor12 and she was awarded 3FM Talent by national radio station 3FM. The station would go on to nominate her for “Best Newcomer” at their annual awards ceremony. In March néomí was invited by SYML to open on his European tour, returning to the road the following month when label mate Jonathan Jeremiah asked her to join him on 10 tour dates over Europe. Latest EP ‘after‘ was released on April 14th with néomí’s biggest headline show taking place at a sold-out Paradiso in Amsterdam on May 7th.
Having recently announced her biggest headline show, taking place on May 25th 2024 at Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam (tickets on sale HERE) néomí today announces a run of live dates in Holland (see below), with tickets on sale HERE, as well as an appearance at ESNS in Groningen on January 17th. She also recently opened for Matt Corby on several Dutch dates and in Paris and recently played her first headline show in Belgium in December.
néomí Live Shows:
17.01.24 – ESNS @ Lutherse Kerk Groningen
09.03.24 – Grasnapolsky Festival, Groningen
10-16.03.24 – SXSW Festival, Austin TX
03.05.24 – PAARD, Den Haag
10.05.24 – Merleyn, Nijmegen
11.05.24 – EKKO, Utrecht
25.05.24 – Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam
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