Versatile folk from Groningen

“If I could just take it off, what I’ve become”, sings Pieternel Teekens on her latest single (“Skin and Bones and Cloth”). And she did. About a decade and a half ago, she performed as the frontwoman of Mama Homemade Dress, after which it went quiet. Then she returned with new music at the Zuidhorn Peter, Pieternel & Meindert Show. In 2024, Sleeper Nell’s first single followed, “Earth Quake”. On it, she makes a promise: “I am going to make the Earth crack”. The song combines folky guitar play with sharp, personal lyrics – both sometimes melancholic, then light and resolute – and does justice to the name of Teekens’ new music project.

The dictionaries don’t lie: a “sleeper” is not only “a person who is asleep”, but also “someone who becomes successful after a period of being unnoticed”. (And I also finally figured out what those crusts are called that hide in the corners of your eyes after a good night’s sleep; apparently these are also sleepers.) After listening to some songs from her debut album Vanilla Town – recorded with Gijs van Veldhuizen, Anne van Wieren and Julian Langeler – I can tell you: Sleeper Nell is a sleeper. Earlier this year she played Grunnsonic, now she’s descending into our Kelderbar with music inspired by, among others, Joni Mitchell, Björk, and “all the 1980s hits”. So, get up! Get those sleepers out of your eyes. Time to go to VERA! | Janke

Sleeper Nell | Instagram

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