With her stunning recent singles “garden” and the BBC 6Music-supported “your girl” perfectly following up her stunning second EP after, released in April 2023, and which found support with the likes of the Sunday Times (Breaking Act), The Independent (Spotlight Artist), The Line of Best Fit, NOTION, Songwriting Magazine, WONDERLAND, and Record of the Day, néomí, aka Surinamese/Dutch folk-pop singer-songwriter Neomi Speelman, kick starts 2024 with her vibrant new offering “somebody’s daughter”.
Ending 2023 on a high, néomí was announced to perform at the prestigious SXSW Festival in Austin Texas taking place in March 2024. Not to mention she’ll be performing at ESNS (Eurosonic Festival) 2024, being named as one of Dutch national magazine NRC’s ‘Rising Stars’, an Entertainment Business interview as a ‘2024 upcoming act’, and recently being invited to perform on 3FM’s ‘Serious Request’. ‘somebody’s daughter’ highlights exactly why so many have been flocking to her lately. With a richer and more buoyant production this time around, she delivers a beautifully arranged and emotive offering that caps off her 2023 in jubilant style.
Adding about the new release, she said, “The track “somebody’s daughter” was written in the same week as the single “your girl”. As I was still in that same mood (pained and angry by misunderstanding words by others) I was writing more and more while carrying these unknown feelings around. To me “somebody’s daughter” feels quite heavy as the message is really: whatever a person does, don’t forget he or she will still be someone’s kid. Times can get rough, and being mad on one another is healthy, but to forget the humanity behind a face can feel a bit cruel. I felt left out by that time, by people I saw as family. I am not saying that was their fault, or even mine, it was a feeling that I carried inside and wrote about.
“The song developed itself by taking me on its own story. All of a sudden I felt a bit more rage and anger for all the daughters (even boy, girl or non) that were mistreated on behaviour they were judged about. It is a sort of “cry for help” like hey I am juggling through life too. Just like you and you and you, don’t forget I am still somebody’s daughter. Why are we alive if you can’t make mistakes, and what did I do by loving them all that time and getting just a simple rejection in return. Somehow in that state I was in, it didn’t feel fair. As if they forgot I am still somebody’s daughter.”
Listen to “somebody’s daughter” HERE
néomí is the moniker for folk-pop singer-songwriter Neomi Speelman who writes authentic and sincere stories backed by dreamy soundscapes inspired by the classic folk songwriters, old and new alike.
Although born in The Netherlands, Neomi is half Dutch/Surinamese after her mother moved from Suriname as a child. As a youngster, Neomi’s first step into music didn’t exactly start on the right foot when she was told she had to attend piano tuitions. It was agreed that Neomi would attend the lessons for 5 years and afterwards she could decide whether to continue or not. Nevertheless 5 years passed and the unimpressed Neomi quit the piano and vowed never to play music again.
4 years would float by until Neomi would find herself at a musical junction. During a browse on a popular Internet video website she stumbled across a live video of Ben Howard performing ‘Old Pine’ with a cellist in tow. Spellbound and inspired, Neomi came out of her musical retirement, picked up a guitar and began teaching herself how to play from online tutorials.
As her skill and confidence grew, Neomi applied to music schools and, due to an administrative error, was invited to audition in Amsterdam. Despite being too young to apply, she was offered a place at the school based on her raw talent and potential. Over the next 4 years she would hone her songwriting and sound, her main influences stemming between Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, and hero Ben Howard. She says of the trio “their lyrics are outstanding and insanely beautiful. I don’t think they make songs, but they make art, poems. That’s something I also really try to do; make little poems instead of songs.”
néomí previous before has garnered 3 million streams to date. She supported Novo Amor, HAEVN, The Slow Show and Jonathan Jeremiah on their 2022 shows in The Netherlands and was named both OOR and 3voor12 Talent for the end of year Popronde tour. After performing at ESNS 2023 she was voted the #5 best act by 3voor12 and she was awarded 3FM Talent by national radio station 3FM. The station would go on to nominate her for ‘Best Newcomer’ at their annual awards ceremony. In March néomí was invited by SYML to open on his European tour, returning to the road the following month when label mate Jonathan Jeremiah asked her to join him on 10 tour dates over Europe.
