If I’m honest, when I heard that there was a new Dutch Mustard single, I was stoked to hear one of my favourite heavy shoegaze artists with some new material. Imagine my confusion upon hitting play on “Loser” not long ago. It’s an absorbing, wistful bit of indie rock, and I was taken by it immediately. It felt like a song I already knew…
…but it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. The fact that the two acts have a little bit in common was even more confusing. It took me a few minutes to figure myself out. Anyway, now there are two excellent mustard-themed bands on my playlist.
Dutch Mustard is the stage name of Sarah-Jayne (SJ) Riedel, and she’s based in London (not far from the other Mustard!). She’s been putting out music as Dutch Mustard since 2022, with two EPs and the above single “Loser”. That’s one of those songs that feels familiar the first time you hear it — turns out Riedel has a knack for that. This is another one, it’s called “Dirty Queen” from her 2023 EP, Beauty. It’s a shinier, poppier song, but there’s something a little raw about the vocal track that I find addictive:
The EP only has four tracks, and I dig them all. Closer “Beauty” has a great bass groove, reverb-soaked vocal and hooky chorus. It’s been stuck in my head since I heard it on Saturday. Again, it’s reminiscent of something I can’t quite put my finger on:
Much of the coverage of Beauty was centred around its glossier, less crunchy sound when compared with 2022’s EP An Interpretation Of Depersonalisation, and I think that moving that way was the right decision. The production on Beauty is a better match to Riedel’s voice, and from the performance videos I’ve seen, the loud guitars haven’t gone anywhere. Here’s a live video of “Feel Everything”. It definitely has a rougher and grungier sound than the album recording, though I think they’re both great:
“Loser” feels a bit like the midway point between the two EPs – it’s guitar-driven and organic, and retains the polished and atmospheric production from the Beauty EP. I’m looking forward to hearing more in the runup to whatever project comes next.
Here’s a bonus: in the runup to that EP’s release, she did a live session for The Line Of Best Fit and covered the Kate Bush song that was revived by Stranger Things. It’s a daring choice — the original song is a classic, and there’s a bit of a shaky start, but SJ finds her footing and does the original justice:
No suggestion from Dutch Mustard of what that project will be, whether a new EP or album. I’m sure something will be announced in due time.
(Oh, and sorry for the terrible joke in the headline).
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