Following the February Release of their Chart-Topping Fifth Album, Balthazar’s New EP ‘Sand Castle Tapes’ Sees the Band’s Music and Story Unfold Within the Ancient Walls of a Belgium Castle
After spending a few nights in a beautiful old castle near Brussels earlier in the year (following lockdown), Belgian art-poppers Balthazar returned from their stay with ‘Sand Castle Tapes’, a documentary and live concert filmed by Heleen Declercq and co-produced with HolyShit sessions. While the film premiered via a special live stream back in June, the ‘Sand Castle Tapes’ EP is now set to arrive digitally on September 24th on Play It Again Sam and features ten songs from the film – eight tracks reworked from their fifth album, Sand released in February of this year as well as two ‘jams’. While we eagerly await that release day, the live video for ‘On A Roll’ offers a taste of what to expect.
Having been kept apart until this stay, the band came together for the first time to interpret the new songs within the castle walls. With Declercq’s inquisitive eye capturing the magical atmosphere, ‘Sand Castle Tapes’ is not just a filmed live show, but an intimate look at Balthazar as their music and story unfolds within the ancient castle walls.
The band say of the stay: “You only get to fully understand an album when you start playing it together, the relaxed circumstances lead to a whole other way of interpreting the songs than we would have for a live show. It’s refreshing, it’s very human.”
The ‘Sand Castle Tapes’ EP follows the February release of the band’s fifth album, Sand – an eleven-track collection that deservedly entered the album charts at #1 in their home country of Belgium. With the writing duo of Jinte Deprez and Maarten Devoldere hitting new heights, Sand highlights the nuances of love, loss, and life.
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