This video was made using more than 300 Hipstamatic photographs off an iPhone, captured during a road trip from NYC to Boston in the summer of 2011. It tells the story of someone arriving at the airport, spending some time in the city, and getting lost along the way to the next.

Alternative rock doesn’t really describe Yen Harley; they are more melancholic rock. This style has been around for many years and its practitioners have become more and more rare. The opening track ‘Pearls’ sets the scene. Lots of repetitive rhythm that drives home the melancholy and catchy phrasing an choruses galore. Often sounding like a heavy REM (especially on ‘Call It Love’), there are flashes of Steve Winwood and Peter Gabriel

The whole album seems stuck in the same mood; though the mood is a good one. The album is not exactly ’slashing your wrists melancholic’, though in parts you do find your mind drifting away. The laid back atmosphere is good and most of the time you will find yourself trying to sing or hum along.

‘Holes In The Sky’ stands out. It’s bigger and more anthemic in its delivery. Often reminiscent of Midlake, there are some great guitar and rhythm sections to compliment the addictive vocals; very nice. The album is full of catchy choruses and easy to listen to rock. One that typifies this is ‘Line Of Fire’, with its change of mood and tempo and catchy chorus it’s simply sublime. The last track on the album, ‘By Starlight’ is more of the same but does become slightly over indulgent, though this is rescued by some fine sounding, crystal clear guitar sound.
Overall, the musicians are competent. There are some nice lead guitar moments and the rhythm section is always tight. The vocals of Lukas Batteau are consistently good throughout and his delivery can’t be faltered.

Rather than just an album of nostalgia, Yen Harley has put together a great set of songs which are well arranged and are still relevant today. Though melancholic rock will never become the mainstream, the occasional commercial success may just manage to creep in and it’s bands like this who will lead the way.

Room13 website

De muzikale verschillen bleken uiteindelijk toch te groot om vruchtbaar te blijven samenwerken. Ze vinden het jammer om na een leuke en intensieve periode sinds de release van het album The Substance Of Things die begin 2010 uitkwam, uit elkaar te gaan, maar hebben ook zin om in het nieuwe jaar weer verder te gaan met bestaande of nieuwe projecten.

Frontman Lukas Batteau is alweer druk bezig met het schrijven van nieuw materiaal en gaat op zoek naar nieuwe bandleden, al is nog niet bekend of hij het onder de huidige naam voortzet.

TSM/Slw 2010
Review by Urban “Wally” Wallstrom,
14 November 2010

Yen Harley??? Hey, as long as they’re happy. “So throw away your pearls to the swine – you won’t devaluate” is a direct quote from the opening track, “Pearls”, a completely new take on the old saying, I believe, yeah? This is the mighty fine debut album from an alternative rock band from Utrecht, The Netherlands and vocalist/guitarist Lukas Batteau is a star in the making. But seriously, how “alternative” can you (still) be if you’re inspired by commercial and very successful acts such as Pearl Jam, REM, Alice in Chains, The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Nirvana??? Alternative is supposed to be the… ehh, the alternative to commercial rock, yeah? no? Nevermind…

The good thing about being in a “alternative” rock band, you have the given right to be as hopelessly melancholic as you like without upsetting people to shout ‘ cheer up you miserable bastard’. And man, these lads (and one lass) give melancholy a bad name in a good way. A band like Yen Harley especially when armed with songs called “Under Black Light” and “Holes In The Sky” are never going to back down from a grungy stare contest. Certainly any band that makes the decision to bring back the darker, heavier sound of the nineties deserves respect. More rightly so when they’ve managed to come up with a string of fine melodies, which evoke a nostalgic feeling as well as ‘fresh’ and exciting. That opening, “Pearls”, pretty much sets the standard of the record. It’s close to top notch mid-tempo rock with strong vocals (hardly any singing accent whatsoever) and they’ve essentially adopted a ‘less is more’ approach to their arrangements. Not as “aggressive” as the desperate cries of Cobain and neither as heavy as early Soundgarden. “The Substance Of Things” sits nicely in between the mellow side of Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden and REM.

The bottomline: Yen Harley more than deserve your attention and I’am still trying to figure out if it’s a strong eight or a weak nine rating. It’s really that good. Oh, and the monicker, appearantly Batteau named the band after a hotmail account of a girl he had hopelessly been in love with. Well, there you go… I’ll have to name my next project: ‘pissoffyousickbastard_iamnotyourgirlfriend’… ’sigh’… angela… sweet angela.

www.yenharley.com
www.myspace.com/yenharley

Als zijn football carrière dramatisch ten einde komt, stort de uit San Francisco afkomstige Benjamin Winter zich op zijn andere grote liefde: muziek. In 2005 verschijnt zijn debuut ‘Amber Alley And After’ en in 2006 ruilt Benjamin Amerika in voor het kleine Nederland. In 2007 brengt hij samen met the Make Believe, zijn band, de EP ‘Memory and Forever’ uit. In hetzelfde jaar verschijnt het nummer ‘The Gray Skyline’ in het tv programma “Hello Goodbye” en verschijnt het nummer op het “Hello Goodbye” album.

Benjamin heeft in de afgelopen vijf jaar, naast vele shows in Amerika, meer dan 200 shows in de Benelux, Duitsland en Frankrijk gespeeld. Benjamin Winter and the Make Believe waren veelvuldig te zien op de Nederlandse podia, zoals Paradiso, Melkweg, 013, Oosterpoort, Patronaat, Ekko, Tivoli, Paard Van Troje, W2, Doornroosje, P60, Simplon en de VERA. Ook traden zij op met Arcade Fire, Pete Murray (volledige tour), Angus & Julia Stone, John Van Der Slice, Denison Witmer, A Balladeer, Stevie Ann, Raoul Midon en Anne Soldaat. Tien jaar na het beëindigen van zijn football carrière is Benjamin vele muzikale ervaringen rijker.

In 2009 keert Benjamin Winter terug naar San Francisco om samen met The Make Believe de laatste hand aan zijn tweede album ‘The Wind Blows Way Up High’ te leggen. Het album kwam op 14 oktober 2009 uit, en om dit te vieren presenteerde Benjamin Winter met band het album in de Paradiso te Amsterdam. The Wind Blows… is een prachtig album met sprankelende melodieën, die zijn boodschap weet over te dragen in een intieme setting, perfect neergezet door The Make Believe. In de maand december is hij live te zien in onder andere Bitterzoet.

Zie attachement voor de gehele tour.

Named after an old flame of mainman Lukas Batteau, Utrecht based Yen Harley (Lukas Batteau – vocals / guitar, Rolf Perdok – guitar, Josine van der Splinter – bass, and Berry Vink – drums) have a distinctly none European sound. But that’s the nature of today’s global music industry.

Originally influenced by the grunge bands of the early nineties such as Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam, Yen Harley Mark I broke up in 2006, after which Batteau – encouraged by his wife – reinvented himself as an acoustic singer songwriter.

And although that went well, with a well received EP and over a hundred gigs in 12 months, including festivals and opening for the likes of Tracy Bonham, Batteau yearned for the darker, heavier sound that only a band could provide.

So, in 2009 Lukas Batteau (the band) was assembled and after some hard gigging set to work in the studio to record The Substance Of Things. With the band complimenting, in a restrained fashion, and with Batteau’s vocals well up in the mix it’s a combination that gives Yen Harley a somewhat unique sound.

With the exception of the Michael Stipe / REM influenced Call It Love For the album is a dark, brooding and ponderous affair. It’s not going to get any party started, but it is perhaps the appropriate accompaniment to the end of a stoned evening. ***

Review by Pete Whalley

Get Ready To Rock

Lukas Batteau, frontman Yen Harley, reageert vooral verbaasd en zegt “ineens ben je in contact met een toffe en enthousiaste producer!”

Voor meer informatie over Park Studio:

http://parkstudio.se ”

Voor alles over Yen Harley:

www.yenharley.net
www.proculture.nl

Tevens heeft Dying Giraffe een samenwerkingsverband gesloten met een Italiaans label waardoor nieuwe label releases ook via een van de grootste independents in Italië zullen verschijnen. Voor het uitbrengen van “The Substance Of Things” in Italië zijn er inmiddels ook al vergevorderde gesprekken gevoerd.

Naast deze internationale ontwikkelingen, is de band intussen ook begonnen met het schrijven van nieuwe nummers en rondt het management van Yen Harley de onderhandelingen af met binnen- en buitenlandse studio’s, waar het vervolg album zal worden opgenomen.

[Link]