Mark my words, Dutch singer/songwriter Isabel Van Gelder will be on the cover of Hit Parader within the next two years. True, I am the editor, and the insanely likable Van Gelder has become a friend through our frequent interviews, so I might seem biased. But when you have two different major industry figures/label presidents tell you how badly they wanted to sign her after she joins the storied history of Columbia Records alongside Rosalia, Harry Styles, and more, you know the hype is legitimate.
Van Gelder, who is already a fast-rising star in her home country and throughout Europe with a run of sold-out shows over the last six months or so, began her rise to the top of the U.S. music scene last week with her debut Columbia single, “I Don’t Want To Fall in Love Again.” It is, oddly, yet another song of heartbreak for Van Gelder, whose quick ascension on social media began with the achingly gorgeous song, “Die For You.” I say oddly because when you talk to Van Gelder, she is constantly laughing, smiling, jovial, and in great spirits.
“I don’t know why that is. I have some slightly happier songs coming,” she says. “Well, not really, actually. If I think about it, maybe the music feels happier, but the lyrics are still pretty sad.”
While she is normally very carefree and happy writing these sad songs, this one did come out of the struggle of trying to balance a relationship and a burgeoning music career. As she explains the origins of the single, like so many great songs, from “Sweet Caroline” to “The Harder They Come,” this one came out of the ether, the universe, wherever songs come from.
“Usually when I write a song, I already have a concept in mind, or I’ve kind of thought about it for a little while. But in this case, I was in the studio. I wrote it with Jake Gosling, and we were in the studio together. The session wasn’t necessarily going super smoothly from my end as well. I didn’t really feel inspired, and I was having a hard time coming up with something to write about,” she says. “We had a great day. He’s lovely and amazing and very talented. But we were just hanging out and talking, and I was beating myself up about the fact that I wasn’t feeling very inspired. There was a lot happening, but it wasn’t great for my relationship, being gone all the time. So, I was struggling with that already, and then at some point I just said, ‘Hey, maybe I should stand behind the mic and just come up with something, just do something, if it’s bad, it doesn’t matter. But let’s freestyle a little bit, so I did.’ I think that was probably the last hour and a half of the session, and we didn’t really have a melody or a concept. And I stood behind the mic, and I just freestyled and talked gibberish and came up with some melodies. Those were immediately the melodies of the song, of the verse, and the chorus. They just fell out. And I didn’t know if they were any good, but Jake was like, ‘No, this is good.’ Then, in like 10 or 15 minutes, I wrote all the lyrics, and the song was there. Actually, when I made it in the studio with him, I thought, ‘I’m not sure if it’s any good and I’ll probably have to go back to it and change some things.’ But I never ended up changing anything; that’s pretty much what the song is. I don’t know where it came from. It just happened.”
Like almost every artist, Van Gelder says songs coming to her like a thunderbolt is all too familiar to her. “In my experience personally, I do feel like the songs that I think are my best songs happen very quickly. And I think when you’re truly inspired, or you’re in this kind of flow state, sometimes you don’t really even know what’s happening, and it just happens. This song was definitely one of those moments,” she says. “I walked out of the studio, and I wasn’t even sure. I had to listen back to what we actually just made? And then I was like, ‘Hey, this is actually good.’”
For Van Gelder, signing with Columbia, which has also been home to legends such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Barbara Streisand, Miles Davis, and more, is the beginning of a new chapter she can’t wait to experience.
“It’s really exciting. All of this happening is obviously a dream come true. And if you had told me a year ago, I would not have ever thought that I’d be where I am right now, even though it’s still the start of everything. I’m very excited, and at the same time, I’m very eager, and I feel even more driven to work 10 times as hard, because I feel like having a deal right now only creates more opportunity in a way,” she says. “I just want to work as hard as I can and do everything I can to make this happen, of course. And I want to be back in the States as soon as I can.”
That will hopefully come for her before the end of this year. And while she is waiting to get back here, there is a lot of new music on the way, as well as visuals for audiences to get to know her better.
“I can’t say yet if it’s going to be either an EP or an album. But there’s definitely going to be some more heartbreaking lyrics on there. A big part of it is done already. We also have some more upbeat music coming. And it’s going to be a little bit more conceptual, I think visually, than the things I’ve done so far because I’m very excited to have this create this cohesive body of work that really has a concept, and then visually, I want it to be recognizable,” she says. “Those are all things that I’m working on; I’m making many mood boards for right now, and a music video, hopefully, if everything works out. But definitely, I have to say there’s going to be a lot more heartbreak on there.”
While Van Gelder might be setting up for a future run at the title “queen of heartbreak” musically, she is, again, far from that in her everyday life, as she proves with her tastes like YUNGBLUD and Bo Burnham. “I feel like somebody that I’ve been following for a long time, and I think he does the sickest shows, is Yungblud. I’d love to see and crowd surf to one of his shows. I feel like it’s crazy and so much energy and just would be really fun,” she says. “I love Bo Burnham. I just think he’s so smart. Also, I just think he’s really funny. And then he’s a fantastic singer, like a musician really. And I loved his special that he made during COVID with all the songs. I just thought it was genius. Like the music is genius. I love him. And I think it’s really funny. He’s just my type of guy.”
You likely will not see crowd surfing at one of her shows, but between the tears, the songs might induce her to promise a lot of fun. “We’re definitely playing some upbeat songs, and I talk a lot. I tell a lot of stories. It feels pretty spontaneous. I think you really do get a feeling of who I am as a person. And I think that’s what I really want people to take away from coming to shows that they feel like they know me a little bit better,” she says.
At only 23, despite what her song suggests, Van Gelder is also far too optimistic to give up on love. “Knowing myself, I fall in love so fast, and I love love. So, I’m sure I’ll fall in love again,” she says laughing.