Sonja van Hamel has formed a musical duo with Berend Dubbe for ten years with their band Bauer. Their latest effort was an orchestral recording with the Metropole Orchestra in 2006. As of then, Berend and Sonja have followed their own musical path.
Sonja expanded her songwriting by writing for films while getting new influences to her style from various trips and performances abroad.
This album, Winterland, her first solo album, contains a series of pop songs which differ from Bauer’s music by lacking electronic sounds and having more ‘real’ instruments instead. It would be best described as a mix of pop, folk and filmmusic. The music was composed for and performed on drums, bass, Wurlitzer, cello and banjo. This, and Sonja’s multilayered voice make the sound quite unique.
Half of the songs on this album can be heard in the Dutch film “Winterland” by D. Tuinder. These songs were arranged for string quartet and copper together with Martin Fondse.
More info on performances, visit
http://www.sonjavanhamel.nl