Here it is, the first album. And it's about time too.
The first song was written before the drummer, Rick, was even born.
Although his music is clearly influenced by his youth, Marcel prefers not to label his music as any specific genre. He believes creativity is not something static, but constantly moving.
He spent two years at the ‘Soundwave Studio’ of Erik Teljeur in Wijdenes, recording the fifteen songs on the album. He plays most of the instruments himself, but Marcel also worked with Rick Duijs on drums, Thijs Visser on keys, Aaf Peter on percussion and Jacqueline Smit, Wilma Smit and Cees Veenbrink in the background choir.
The cryptic title; ‘Paradoxical Nature of Creation,’ comes from the song ‘father and son’. It is about contradictions; the impossibility of knowing how things will develop. The album cover shows a sunken gardener’s sloop, a picture taken by Marcel’s older brother, evoking a sense of the transience of our existence.
There are ten songs on the vinyl album.
With on the A side 'Barbed Wire' as fast opener.
Followed by ‘Lost in Space’ with a nod to David Bowie's ‘Major Tom’.
The rougher 'Beachcomber' with the slide in the open E tuning.
The atmospheric ‘Richest Man on Earth' with melodic organ parts in the beginning and at the end.
Then, the driving ‘Valentine 1916’ in the familiar major chords G, D and C.
The enigmatic 'Café the Monkey' opens the B side.
Followed by 'With Kind Regards’, with backing vocals.
‘Delay on Thirteen Tracks’, with a striking bass.
'Boogie Man', based on a childhood memory in which 'cauliflower bobbing in the filthy water’ refers to a youth spent roaming the West-Frisian landscape, with its old canals.
The vinyl album ends with the melodic ballad ‘Pull Your Own Strings’.
On the CD, inserted into the album cover, are five additional bonus tracks.
Including "These Hands" with a stunning guitar part by Robert van Rossen.