Weval

SHORT BIO

Weval are a genre-blurring electronic duo from Amsterdam, made up of Harm Coolen and Merijn Scholte Albers. Since their 2013 debut, they've earned global recognition for their emotionally rich, textured productions that fuse analogue warmth with forward-thinking sound design. With roots in film and a cinematic approach to storytelling, their work sits somewhere between introspective electronica, psychedelic pop, and atmospheric dance music.

On their fourth album CHOROPHOBIA, Dutch electronic duo Weval lean into what once held them back: dance music. Known for rich, introspective productions that straddle the line between electronica and cinematic soundscapes, Harm Coolen and Merijn Scholte Albers have spent a decade carving out a space outside the club mainstream. But the discovery of the term "chorophobia" – the fear of dancing – prompted a re-evaluation. Realizing they'd always held back from fully embracing dance, they set out to make their most extroverted, groove-driven album to date.

Known for their immersive live shows, Weval have played major festivals across Europe and the US, including Primavera, Pukkelpop, Lightning in a Bottle, Lowlands, DGTL Amsterdam and sold out iconic venues like Paradiso and the Royal Concertgebouw in their hometown.

Their music has been featured in multiple acclaimed TV series including Good Girls, Industry, and I May Destroy You, and championed by BBC Radio 1, KCRW, KEXP, and SiriusXMU. Press support includes Pitchfork, The Line of Best Fit, DJ Mag, Billboard, and Crack Magazine.

Refusing to be pinned to a single genre, Weval continue to evolve, balancing dancefloor instincts with introspection, and always following the emotional thread. CHOROPHOBIA is not a traditional dance record — it's closer to a house party soundtrack than a club set. Inspired by a low-res iPhone photo of a friend DJing with one hand and snacking with the other, the duo found a visual metaphor for their new direction: playful, chaotic, and unpolished in the best way. With a tighter writing schedule and a looser approach to production, the record came together fast, resulting in bold choices, higher BPMs, and genre-melting moments that span acid, funk, bass, and psych-pop.

What emerged is a liberating, mixtape-like album that challenges the idea of what "dance" even means. CHOROPHOBIA invites listeners to embrace discomfort, let go of overthinking, and find joy in movement, awkward or otherwise.

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EXTENDED BIO

When it came to making their fourth album, CHOROPHOBIA, critically-acclaimed Dutch duo Weval faced their fears. Despite being grouped into the dance scene since their 2013released debut EP 'Half Age' and going on to play festival stages including Nuits Sonores, Lowlands, Primavera, Best Kept Secret, Pukkelpop and DGTL Amsterdam with their fivepiece band, Harm Coolen and Merijn Scholte Albers have actively pushed away from being known as a floor-filling act. In fact, when the world-touring pair's self-titled 2016 debut was awarded Best Dance Album at the Edison Awards in their native Holland, they thought they had been nominated in the wrong genre — especially as they were in the same category as EDM DJ Martin Garrix. Such reluctance makes sense: the friends – who have sold out headline shows at the prestigious Royal Concertgebouw and iconic Paradiso in their hometown Amsterdam – got their start in the film industry and have always made music that's on the more introspective and cinematic edge of the electronic scene.

But, more recently, when the pair stumbled across the phrase chorophobia – which means a fear of dancing – they decided to lean into the irony and get out of their comfort zones. "Until that point, we had always worked on records with a 'listening' mindset," Harm reflects of Weval's second and third albums (2019's 'The Weight' and 2023's 'Remember') — "we realised that we've been scared of making dance music for all of our journey as producers." Having also suddenly realised that they both feared dancing when growing up, this tension of whether they should "go for it the most" helped guide them.

An influencing factor in their decision was a low-resolution iPhone photo they had taken years ago at a house party. Depicting a friend preparing a playlist – but with one hand skipping through songs in search of bangers for later that night, and the other in a bag of chips – the visual aesthetic helped them to conceptualise their ideas further. "We wanted to use it as artwork way earlier but we felt a big disconnect between the comedic element and our music," Merijn recalls. "We wanted to have the courage to use this weird and funny picture, but it was also too random for the kind of music we made." Writing with this image in mind opened up a world where their new creations could live. "The dancey side of us seemed to be clearly not a club but a living room where you can basically blast this big variety of tunes: short, trippy, vibey." Crucially, it's a space where "the rules are pretty free."

Jumping in at the deep end – albeit later than planned – has resulted in Weval's most extroverted collection to date. While they teased this new direction with 2024's groovier 'Night Versions' EP for Technicolour, letting go of their inhibitions has required patient artistic evolution. "We were always a bit in an identity crisis," Harm reflects of he and Merijn wanting to make indie band music during their early days. "Some artists are amazing in knowing their genres, but for us it's the opposite," he adds. "We actually hate categories, and in our heads they hardly exist. It's just a spaghetti of feelings: we love it when people in one room come from a variety of subcultures, it feels like connecting multiple religions together." While he sees this as one of their more existential drives, especially when it comes to their live shows, he suggests "that genre-less mindset does make our music harder to grasp."

Though they loved the sense of being in-between worlds, this time they took a leap of faith and embraced dance more than ever: "we wanted to commit in a way that still felt liberating and true to us," Harm says, adding that calling it a dance record not only felt like a u-turn but freed them from the boundaries and cliches of certain categories. "It felt like we never really went for it before, so it felt new, exciting and scary to do," he adds, recalling that with their previous releases, which felt more like introspective soundscapes, "you had to look close to realise there's maybe a pop song hidden."

Equally, having been used to playing live shows, learning the "different rules" of DJing pulled them further towards the club space. "If you're performing, it's a theatre-ish stage. But, with DJing, it's almost an exercise to be social with people, and making interesting musical choices that might kill the vibe is a bit of a thrill." While these sets – which saw them test new songs – proved a catalyst to 'Chorophobia's upbeat energy, they were initially nervous about these club and festival slots. They always left the stage feeling inspired, however: "seeing a lot of dancing people, we thought 'let's make something out of that,'" Merijn says.

It was this fresh excitement — paired with having limited time due to Merijn directing a movie he had written during the two Covid-19 lockdowns — that propelled 'Chorophobia's "insanely fast" creation. "We realised that we needed to shake things up, especially after our previous record, which took us three and a half years to finish," Harm says, describing having the luxury of time as "a trap… by the end of that project, we had ten different versions of some tracks, unsure which direction to go." Merijn continues: "That process was intense — full of (fun) rabbit holes, endless experimentation, and making entirely different types of music just to figure out what the record was supposed to be. But, over that amount of time, your mood shifts, the topics, and your taste."

To this end, knowing the clock was ticking – especially because of Merijn's film schedule – proved a godsend. "We approached it all completely differently," Harm says; "we asked ourselves: 'what if time was our limitation'?" That thought alone, Merijn says, "felt liberating, even though there were no guarantees that we could pull it off." In order to write fast, the pair realised they needed a new manifesto — "an excuse to bypass this urge to make something more complex." Harm continues: "We couldn't overthink things, and that set us free from the 'credibility demon' that blocks us — the voice on your shoulder saying 'some choices are cheesy, make it less cheesy and send it 10 times into a tape machine,'" he adds, citing them going on to make "bolder choices, which was the opposite of what we had been doing, micro-tuning layers."

This new creative approach was a revelation for the duo who current studio setup is filled with gear they used to dream about. "I don't want to work in a different way ever again," Merijn attests. "After all these years of making music, you learn that a strict deadline is worth the most," he adds, detailing that the pair would automatically share early demos with each other via a shared folder, then edit them remotely before getting in the studio together to finish them. "Back in the studio I would sit behind the laptop doing arrangements and Harm, playing to his strength of being good with gear, was behind me doing all the crazy stuff on the synths," Merijn says. "Since time was so pressured, we pushed each other in the moment to provide a few ideas fast, instead of hundreds of takes and or possible routes."

Finding the sweet spot in terms of length and structure also resulted in a new flexibility between moods and emotions. "In a big club I want to have a subtle line of emotion, but in a house party I can switch easily from an old R&B track to some kind of electro banger," Harm says. The duo also debated the very definition of dance and concluded that "it can be anything, as long as it's made for dancing in some type of way." "While usually being a bit genre-naive, we held on to that iPhone picture," Merijn adds, "knowing that the kind of 'dance' we were making could live in that world of a house party as we know them."

This unrestricted, genre-crossing ethos made room for guilty pleasures, higher BPMs, big drops and an increased number of hi-hats. It also means the record plays somewhat like a mixtape. The titular intro sets the scene and is ominous enough to soundtrack a 70s horror movie, before acid synths take it in a wiggier direction, flowing seamlessly into the spiralling build up of 'Movement.' Comparatively, the psychedelic flourishes of 'Just Friends' would suit a Tame Impala record perfectly, and the funk-infused 'Better' sits in a similar sphere to records from the Motown era. Featuring vocals from club favourite KILIMANJARO's brother who spontaneously joined a studio visit, 'Head First' – ups the ante, as does the UK-bass-infused 'Dopamine,' while the subtler 'Mercator' forms a bridge between Weval's previous releases and this record.

An album designed to be experienced with others – akin to the listening session they hosted for fans which resulted in changes to some of the songs – 'Chorophobia' is sure to satisfy both longtime fans and lead them to discover a new audience. Not only is it a hedonistic expansion to the sonic world that Weval spent almost a decade building, their stylistically-brave fourth record is proof that doing what scares you the most often ends up being the most thrilling choice to make.

About Weval:

Since arriving on the scene, Weval have established a solid reputation across the globe for crafting highly textured and sophisticated electronic music. On the road, the Amsterdambased duo has toured the UK, US and Europe and rocked stages with their five-piece band at festivals including Nuits Sonores, Lowlands, Primavera, Best Kept Secret, Pukkelpop to Lightning in a Bottle, Rock en Seine and DGTL Amsterdam. They have also sold out headline shows at the prestigious Royal Concertgebouw and iconic Paradiso in their hometown Amsterdam.

Their music has been featured in TV shows Good Girls, Industry and I May Destroy You, radio highlights include a live performance at the historic Maida Vale studio for BBC Radio 1, plus support from Lauren Laverne, Tom Ravenscroft, KEXP, KCRW, SiriusXMU and Beats In Space. Press coverage for Weval includes impressive support from Pitchfork, Billboard, The Line of Best Fit, Resident Advisor, DJ Mag, Mixmag, Clash, SPIN, BrooklynVegan and Crack Magazine.