‘Keep It A Secret’ is the fourth studio album of Lady Linn, after ‘Here We Go Again’, ‘No Goodbye At
All’ and ‘High’. With this Lady Linn defines herself more than ever as a fixture on the Belgian music
scene. For this new album Lady Linn trusted an introspective approach in which she was inspired by
movies, series, dreams, love and of course her unborn baby. This inspiration led Linn to not only
compose the songs on piano and guitar, but first and foremost via Maschine (an electronic mobile
studio made by Native Instruments). This was a totally new starting point for Linn’s songs, giving her
the means to start with a beat, a sound or an atmosphere and thus allowing her to create a complete
backbone for each and every song from scratch. Recently writing the soundtrack for the movie Café
Derby (directed by Linn’s friend Lenny Van Wesemael and released in September 2015) and a love for
house and dance music – reflected in Linn’s successful collaborations with FCL and Belgian DJ Red D –
formed the basis of this new approach that greatly differs from any typical singer-songwriter. And so
Lady Linn has joined the ranks of class musicians who create their music entirely on their own from A
to Z.
As always Lady Linn is supported by 7 fantastic and versatile musicians. A dream team that was led by
producer Reinhard Vanbergen. Together Linn’s songs were translated and enhanced during rehearsal
and studio time, leading to the apparent coherent feel of ‘Keep It A Secret’. After having worked with
producer Renaud Letang – who already earned his marks with Feist and Jane Birkin – on her last two
albums, Lady Linn was confident that the full and warm sound of Reinhard Vanbergen was the way to
go for this album. Reinhard has previously worked with Das Pop, School Is Cool, The Van Jets, Goose,
The Happy and The Hickey Underworld and for Lady Linn’s album he was joined by Niek Meul (Das
Pop). More than ‘just’ producing Reinhard also wrote the violin parts and Niek took care of the all-
important mastering job. The studio of choice was the famous ICP Studio in Brussels.
The result of all this is ‘Keep It A Secret’. An album featuring 12 beautiful songs that form Lady Linn’s
strongest album to date. It’s a mature record with songs that are at once lively and up tempo, but
also warm, intimate and mysterious. Each and every song was created in complete freedom with
only the song itself that mattered and no style or hype influences whatsoever. That freedom is
apparent throughout an album that is sounding very organic, even if it all started electronically. The
individual instruments and musicians are all allowed to shine, making for a kind of ‘back to the roots’-
feel without reverting back to the jazzy poppy sound of Lady Linn’s debut album.
Opener ‘Slowly’ will touch every living soul with a violin part that should melt away any doubts one
might have. Lead single ‘Sing Your Heart Out’ sees Lady Linn becoming a perfectly casted formidable
blues diva, backed up by some highly original arrangements to form an irresistible earworm. ‘Lucky’
combines all the elements to become a classic in the tradition of music greats like for example
Fleetwood Mac: larger than life, moving and mesmerizing. ‘Pink Sunset’, ‘We Used To Be’ and ‘Light
Me Up’ are full of optimism and catchiness, making for perfect dancefloor material. ‘Can’t Find You’
is a soulful ballad going straight to your heart and closing the album in style is ‘Secret’, the most
intimate song of the whole album.
The 7 musicians that are part of this album – The Magnificent Seven – are all part of the pick of the
litter of the Belgian music scene. Some of them have been part of Lady Linn’s circle for years and
together they are responsible for a recognizable, fresh and very coherent sound. The Magnificent
Seven are:
- Joris Caluwaerts (piano), part of STUFF., Magnus and Left Bank Drive.
- Filip Vandebril (bass), part of Black Flower, The Valerie Solanas and Antwerp Gipsy Ska
- Steven Van Gelder (drums), part of Hydrogen Sea and Tout Va Bien.
- Kas Longman (guitar), used to be part of Skeemz, Bolchi, Trixie Withley en Novastar.
- Yves Fernandez (trumpet), part of Axelle Red, Admiral Freebee and Arno.
- Marc De Maeseneer (saxophone), part of BACKBACK, Admiral Freebee, The Whodads and
- Frederic Heirman (trombone), part of Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Arno, Olla Vogala and Anne
The artwork that is the basis of the album cover is designed by Carll Cneut.
