The Haunted Youth, an indie-rock nugget about to hit Europe

The Haunted Youth: here is a group that fits perfectly with an era steeped in anxiety, while marrying a very 90s aesthetic. Clearly, we think a lot of Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine at times. But, in any case, not necessarily to a young man barely 30 years old: Joachim Liebens, from Hasselt in Belgium, very close to the Dutch border.

In a few months, his project conquered Europe with feverish and hypnotic live performances. And especially with a first album, Dawn Of The Freak, released at the end of last year in which the boy purged his painful past. “I took a lot of time to dive back into my past, to think back to certain experiences, he explains to franceinfo. I tried to transcribe all that into songs, like a therapeutic process. Writing about something you’ve been through is a bit like keeping a diary. Memories of bad things get better when you create new ones.”

Teenage loneliness and an avalanche of guitars, all between darkness and light, nourishing music of striking beauty… His references are also to be found in classic horror cinema.

Our time has come, all the weirdos, those who stay on the sidelines, those who scarify themselves because they have a hard time managing… These are the people I want to write songs about

Joachim Liebens, The Haunted Youth

at franceinfo

In Italy, Spain, Iceland, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, there are countless festivals that The Haunted Youth will go through this summer, as proof that an entire generation finds itself in this luminous song of melancholy. .

The Haunted Youth, Dawn Of The Freak (May Way Records). Album available. In concert on April 4 at the Boule Noire in Paris, on the 5 in Strasbourg, on the 6 in Lyon, on the 7 in Annecy or on July 7 at the Beauregard festival.