Not much is known about Belgian balladeer Loverman, though his debut single “Into The Night” is a striking slice of blackened alt-folk; its spare melody enveloped by a deep burrowing voice reminiscent of Scott Walker, Lee Hazlewood and Leonard Cohen.
His visual presentation is something else to behold however: dressed as the frightening-looking titular monster from F.W. Murnau’s horror classic Nosferatu, Loverman’s presence is actually disarmingly sweet, swooning and vulnerable. The found footage-styled video is closer in style to Tomas Alfredson’s Let the right one in than the abject frights Murnau and Werner Herzog would concoct. We see him dance the night of way in a daze of romance and mischief with a nocturnal companion.
Of the song, the mysterious artist had the following to say: “As I find often to be the case with writing songs in the midst of emotional turmoil, the song didn’t take long to write at all. It was written during lockdown, in a frenzy, with a collection of other songs that will get their time soon enough. Now is the time for ‘Into the Night’, a love song, undoubtedly. A love song in despair at once as it is an affirmation, a reassertion. A love song that despairs over the hold love can have over one’s heart, but because of it becomes all the more determined and dedicated to the love it despairs of. To those whose hearts are open, I give you, ‘Into the Night’.”
Furthermore, Loverman hints that his fascination for dark folk isn’t as cast-iron as some of his peers: in the press release he also mentions Burial as a source of inspiration. In any case, “Into The Night” definitely strikes as a fresh take of an old-fangled sound, or as Loverman himself puts it, “[The songs] tell you a new story you’ve all heard before but still need to hear. Stripped down to their bare necessities, these love songs recollect and reload.”
Either way, we’re spellbound and wholly intrigued to hear more in the near future. Watch the video for “Into The Night” below, and find it at various other streaming services here.
