One of our #20For2020, Amsterdam’s Stella are a band we’ve admired ever since we first heard last year’s excellent track Satisfied. While the band haven’t yet put out any studio recordings, they’ve continued to impress with a series of high-quality live recordings. Today we’re sharing their latest offering, a brand-new track, with a title many of us can probably relate to at the moment, You Always Do. This live version of the track was recorded back in January, in the rather idyllic sounding setting of a cabin in the woods at the Veluwe, a Dutch nature park.

Discussing the inspiration behind the track, vocalist Tosca van der Waals has suggested it’s about a, perhaps futile, attempt to, “make someone feel better even though you know they’re only there because you always try to”. Ultimately, it’s about spiralling into old habits, and, “hating how you are in that moment but yet relapsing into that circle time after time”. A theme that plays out in both the delivery and the lyrics, as Tosca sings, “I make you happy because I know you need me to”, with subtle hints of both resignation and frustration.

Musically, You Always Do is a track that continues to showcase the versatility of Stella’s sound, from a sparse opening of vocals and guitars, things gently shift into a darker tone with additional guitars and drums adding a crashing mid-90’s indie feel. The track builds up from there, as the instruments swoop and dive around Tosca’s focus-grabbing vocal, pitched in the intriguing middle ground between The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan and Alanis Morisette. With plans for the band’s first recorded material to arrive later in the year, the story of Stella is just getting started.

Click HERE for more information on Stella.

Video Credits
Production: Jurriaan JJ Sielcken
Audio Engineer: Sonne Scheermakers
Camera: Ab Al-Tamini