After premiering his debut single Nando a year ago and a feature of the stunning LGBTQIA+ hymn Jaouad, Belgian artist Jelle Denturck, aka Dressed Like Boys, returns with Lies.
It is a touching song about addiction. „I put myself in the shoes of a friend of mine who is addicted but doesn’t want to see it,“ Denturck explains. „I created an antagonist—the ‚she‘ in the song—confronting him with it.“
Every single day is a carnival with you
She says: „This bottle took my place as your only friend.“
I can see her smile turn bitter
I can’t tell you what went wrong
Lies is released tomorrow and premieres today with Negative White.
Balancing the grave, depressing theme of Lies is a playful sound in which strings flow around the melody, a fuzzy guitar rips into a solo, and the charm of 70s pop lingers. The music is hopeful—optimistic even—that there’s a better future.
Lies is another stunning example of Denturck’s solo project in which he seeks to address personal and societal topics. He states: „My aim is to write truthful, heartfelt songs that sound like they’ve always existed. Writing music, in my experience, is not just about self-expression. It is more than that. It is a lifelong search for those deep, universal laws that define us and teach us about the nature of humankind.”
And in a way, Lies also transcends the topic in the captivating one-line chorus. It becomes a universal message resonating beyond people suffering from addiction: The realisation of self-denial, of masking your truth and personality. It’s a prompt to reflect and see beneath the surface.
„I’ve been telling lies to so many people in my life,“ sings Dressed Like Boys, yet often, the first person we lie to is ourselves.
