Milow

Milow is the alias of Belgium-born singer/songwriter Jonathan Vandenbroeck, a mysterious moniker chosen at random to be the auteur of a body of music that sees the release of his seventh and latest studio album, Nice to Meet You. All of them, from his 2006 debut The Bigger Picture, which produced one of his biggest hits in “You Don’t Know,” have been self-released on his own Homerun Records as a truly independent DIY artist who follows his own muse. 

“As someone used to responding to crisis situations, I was prepared when the pandemic arrived,” says Milow, who was surrounded by musical instruments as a child, picking up the accordion, guitar and piano in short order, writing his first song in English at 15. “This was something I recognized. Though it might seem like the worst time to make music, it turned out to be the best time for me. When things are at their most difficult, that’s when it gets easier and I’m at my most creative.”

Nice to Meet You was recorded with live musicians – including his longtime guitarist/ touring partner Tom Vanstiphout – at Brussels’ famed ICP Studios, with members of the band camping out in a bubble, eating meals together and sleeping on the premises. A greeting to the outside world – the title track is a paean to being a father to his two kids, 7 and 4 years old – the album is the perfect antidote for a world slowly emerging from the last two years of pandemic.

“After the last two years, I didn’t want to make a solitary album by myself,” confesses Milow. “I needed that energy to feed off, that interaction, camaraderie, feedback. Not just from producers, but the musicians, too. We were all happy to see each other and catch up.”

From the very first track, “Whatever It Takes,” a glorious homage to the thump of Motown bassist James Jamerson’s beat and the glorious ‘80s harmonies of Daryl Hall and John Oates, the album offers a vibrant, upbeat return to normalcy. The hook-laden, melodic pop includes the first single, “How Love Works,” about the trials and tribulations of relationships (with a stunning video directed by fellow Belgian Cecilia Verheyden), along with the Flamenco guitars and Moorish flavor of “ASAP,” a world music track about the responsibilities of friendship that channels the classic James Taylor/Carole King song, “You’ve Got a Friend.”  

Other numbers, like the self-deprecating “Guinness Book of Records,” where the lovelorn narrator brags of setting the world mark for someone who “fucked it up a thousand times,” or the twin tributes to pop culture phenomena both created in 1981 -- the same year Milow, now 40, was born -- the ode to the Japanese video game “Donkey Kong,” and the breezy Motown rhythms of “DeLorean,” the homage to the ultimate underdog car featured in Back to the Future.

“I thought it was the right time for some lighthearted songs rather than any heavy introspection,” explains Milow. “I’m proud that I was able to get these 12 songs out of the last two years, making something positive out of difficult times. And that’s the way I look at life. In a crisis, I get a certain focus and see more clearly what I must do.”

But not all is pop hooks and sing-along choruses. The death of Milow’s longtime drummer Oscar Kraal during Covid from a battle with pancreatic cancer led to the title track, a rare contemplation on Milow’s relationship with his two children, in the wake of the two teenage kids left behind by the 50-year-old musician’s death, with the album’s closer, “Oscar,” serving as Milow’s musical eulogy to his friend.

“It was all about tearing these walls I had built around me,” says Milow, who referenced his own father as a rather distant presence in his childhood, along with his own vow to be a better parent. “Every album I’ve made is about leaving my comfort zone. The bravest thing I could do was write about something I didn’t have the courage to face before. I wanted to break the cycle I experienced with my own father, while acknowledging I have as much to learn from my kids as they do from me. I never wanted people to see that vulnerability before.”

Milow’s seven previous albums represent an ongoing dialogue with his audience, one that he may begin, but is soon picked up by his many followers around the world.

“My albums are like journals, diaries of that particular time in my life,” says Milow. “More people may discover me in the U.S., but I don’t want to attach my own happiness to making it there. One country won’t affect my career. I still get inspired to write songs that everyday people can relate to, rather than the life of a touring musician or rock star. That’s my role.”

Like his nod to the “DeLorean,” Milow appreciates maintaining the peculiarities of being an artist from Belgium.

“I can identify with that mentality of creating something independently and against all odds,” he says about maintaining his continental European focus. “The music scene is much more eclectic over here, from the festival lineups to radio. I love the freedom I have as a singer/songwriter to play many different genres.”

On Nice to Meet You, Milow does just that, renewing that relationship and inviting anyone and everyone who wants to join him. With a brave new world of streaming breaking down barriers of country and genre, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Milow add more fans – and territories -- to his ever-expanding reach.