Warhaus

Warhaus is the solo project and alter ego of Maarten Devoldere, frontman/songwriter of the Belgian indie pop band Balthazar. Unveiling the project in 2016, Devoldere explained that it came about when Balthazar's members decided to take a break to focus on individual solo work. Warhaus is more mercurial than Balthazar. With a dry, yet dramatically expressive romantic baritone amid guitars, murky percussion, vibes, atmospheric synths, strings, and occasional horns, Devoldere's musical approach offers nocturnal, dreamy traces of Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Benjamin Biolay, Serge Gainsbourg, and Love and Money along with a keen melodic sensibility and wry, sometimes black humor with poetry and resonant emotion. We Fucked a Flame Into Being, the band's debut album, appeared in 2016 on Play It Again Sam and earned critical support. A year later, an eponymous set arrived and was embraced by social media and at radio as the band toured Western and Northern Europe. Following the pandemic, Warhaus returned to the recording studio and emerged with the widely acclaimed Ha Ha Heartbreak in 2022, their most elegant long-player. 2024's Karaoke Moon joined the same club of noir-ish pop, darkly tinged club jazz and 21st century yacht rock. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi