LONE - We Came A Long Way (2025) Hi-Res

Lone is the duo Ferdinand Bakker and Michel van Dijk, who were active together for many years in the symphonic rock band Alquin from Delft until 2012 and both have been active in the music world for over forty years. Michel first became known as the singer of the Dutch pop band Les Baroques and later sang in Ekseption (to be honest, I only know the instrumental classical repertoire of this band led by Rick van der Linden) and as the successor of Kaz Lux in Brainbox. In Alquin he was the singer of classics such as Fool In The Mirror and Wheelchair Groupie. In 1979 he made the LP ‘Gerritsen en Van Dijk’ together with Golden Earring bassist Rinus Gerritsen, which unfortunately was not a commercial success. Multi-instrumentalist Ferdinand continued after the first life of Alquin with the new wave band The Meteors and together we saw both of them again in 2003 when Alquin was re-established.

All songs were composed and written by Ferdinand, who played all instruments (only some drum parts were played by Kim Haworth) and provided the backing vocals. All this happened in the ParkStudio in Amsterdam. Michel provides the vocals on all songs and he still does a great job at the age of 75 because his singing is simply very good after all these years and experiences. The undersigned has seen the men live twice so far, in the Luxor Theater in Zutphen in October 2022 and a year later at an open-air festival in August 2023 in Winterswijk. Both concerts made a big impression, where they played songs from their previous albums and some Alquin classics.

I can summarize this new album in one word: successful! Ferdinand has made ten beautiful songs in multiple musical styles from southern rock, blues to rootsy pop, with (as expected) beautiful guitar work and beautiful solos plus beautiful violin parts. Michel's singing is simply beautiful in all these songs and, in my opinion, typically Michel!