Thursday, August 03, 2006

Better know I'm here and I got no fear

Boris Titulaer, more commonly known as Boris, won the second season of Idols (Netherlands). I don't know that much about him, and only know a few of his songs, but they are definitely worth hearing. As he's gotten older, Boris's sound seems to have changed (which of course necessitated an image change); it has matured, I guess one could argue, though I did like his older sound, too. He was recently featured on Arjan Writes, and, though I'd be surprised if he took off in the US, I hope he does well. (I know this picture--from http://www.borisfans.nl--isn't from a photo shoot, like those I prefer to use, but it's impossible find pictures of Boris where he's not singing! Which I guess is a good thing, in a way.)

When You Think Of Me--a single off Boris's first album, Rely on Me. When I first heard it, I brushed it off, thinking it was just the sort of song designed to be played as the soundtrack to teen dramas or as the final dance at prom--one of those songs that's supposed to sound emotional and meaningful, but isn't. As time's passed, though, it's grown on me a lot. Boris has a distinctive voice with a rough edge, which helps this song stand out, and it has some deviations from traditional Idol first singles (it's not so over-the-top, has some interesting/random high parts, and the first verse makes the story the lyrics are telling not what you would expect from an Idol winner's debut song).

Within My Hands
--as pointed out by commenters at Arjan Writes, this is apparently a cover of a Terri Walker song. This song is a little funkier than Boris's previous songs, with some jazz and soul added to the pop of before, but it still has energy.

You might be able to buy Boris's first album, Rely on Me, or the single "Within My Hands" (and presumably second album Holy Pleasure when it is released this September) as digital downloads here, but I'm not sure if you have to have a Netherlands-issued credit card to do so. Hopefully, since Boris is planning to release in the US, it will get a lot easier to find his music soon.

Next up: Canada! But don't get too excited.

4 comments:

Paul said...

is it wrong that i am marginally excited about canada. the country did of course give us, er, celine dion and um someone else probably???

Poster Girl said...

I'm sure the person you're thinking of is Shania Twain ;)

Don't get your hopes to high, though; a lot of it is pretty generic rocky pop.

Anonymous said...

Interested in Boris Titulaer? Visit his website: [url]http://www.borismusic.nl[/url] or [url]http://www.myspace.com/borush[/url]

Poster Girl said...

Thanks for the links! With a name like "Boris," it is very difficult to search for information about him :)