TJE

Belgian trio Lindy Versyck (vocals), Melvin Slabbinck (guitar) and Klaas Leyssen (bass) took the common Dutch diminutive suffix TJE (pronounced TYUH) and turned it into a full-blown band name. With just a minimum of gear they aim for a big impact, exploring the boundaries of their instruments, in search of dissonance and musical friction. “Filling the stage with atmosphere, their musical skill and three songs, they were able to give a performance that felt like a full evening’s setlist”, Belgian influential music magazine HUMO writes.

Just a few months earlier they’d released their debut EP ‘IDOLS’, blending wayward electronica with melancholic avant-pop and experimental post-rock. Portishead hooking up with Fever Ray, ML Buch and Astrid Sonne, and Versyck often balancing her voice, like a Belgian Björk, “between childlike naiveté and downright brooding”, as witnessed by Belgian newspaper De Standaard.

TJE has also made a big impression live this year in Belgium and the Netherlands on fine venue and festival stages like Ancienne Belgique (Brussels), OLT Rivierenhof and Trix (both Antwerp), and Left of the Dial (Rotterdam). And it’s only a matter of time before the rest of Europe will follow.