Eliën & Jorge da Rocha

Eliën is an artist from the Netherlands. As a multilingual Third Culture Kid, she grew up in contact with different countries and cultures. It comes as no surprise, then, that her debut album was created during a road trip across Europe in 2019. Her dreamy synth sounds, combined with emotive vocals and downtempo grooves, take you on an introspective journey through her inner world. Eliën’s music draws on a wide range of influences—somewhere at the intersection of indie, classical music, and alternative folk, she carves out her own place within the musical spectrum.

Her latest creation took shape during a two-year journey across Europe in a blue Volkswagen van, in collaboration with Portuguese multi-instrumentalist Jorge da Rocha and creative hub Zuhause. Along the way, Eliën gave intimate concerts in her van, which she transformed into a small concert space—each time for just a handful of listeners, who were invited to leave their impressions and thoughts on postcards afterwards. More than three years later, over 400 postcards now hang inside Eliën’s van. Their contents have been woven into the fourteen tracks of her new album Roam. These are stories about loneliness, about finding yourself again, about new connections, and about the longing for a free-spirited life. Do you believe in other Eliëns, too?