Boogie Belgique - Machine (2022)

Boogie Belgique is the Belgian band founded in 2012 by Oswald Cromheecke. The project grew steadily through word of mouth, and Cromheecke was eventually joined by Emily Van Overstraeten, Cedric Van Overstraeten, Aiko Devriendt, Ambroos De Schepper and Martijn Van Den Broek. This collaborative approach to production gave birth to a new sound that stayed true to the nostalgic flair of the band’s beginning. Boogie Belgique’s sound is a blend of electronic music and jazz, with hints of Bonobo, Wax Tailor, and Quantic. Varying anywhere between relaxing, intimate moods and energizing, danceable grooves, Boogie Belgique’s music is characterized by melancholia, vintage samples and a live big band feel.

Four years after the success of the band’s breakout album Volta, Boogie Belgique is back with Machine. Their sixth album draws a parallel to the 1930’s both musically and politically. The album’s sound pays homage to the decade’s musical trends, such as the crooners, big bands, and swing. The band puts this concept on full display in their album standout Wonder, which is a modern crooner track inspired by Harold Orlob’s hit I Wonder Who’s Kissing You Now with nods to fan favorites like Goodnight Moon and Forever & Ever.

In both eras, the music is meant to be escapist. In the 30’s, fans of music danced their troubles away through exuberance. During the modern age in which this album is set, Boogie Belgique invites its listeners to slow down, breathe, and heal from the frantic distractions of modern life that engulf many of us.

The parallel can also be seen in the economic and sociopolitical shadows of the decade that ultimately lead to catastrophic events. Though the threat is never named explicitly in their music, and the meaning of the album title Machine is open to everyone’s interpretation, this looming presence is something that can be seen in much of the album’s themes. Feeling like they’re on the brink of losing things that are precious in this world, Boogie Belgique warns its listeners of fallen kingdoms (Tales of Old) and the dangers of their ever-growing consumption in the present day (Risk).

Whether it’s in the band’s Boogieman icon, or songs such as Mercury (named after a celestial body that lost its planetary status), Boogie Belgique continually returns to these themes; longing for a bygone era, urban decay, public uneasiness, societies falling from grace, and avenoir.