Heartbreak, Humour and a Star on the Rise
Anyone fortunate enough to have seen Isabel Van Gelder perform live during her current tour will already appreciate the strength of her songwriting and vocal talents. For those who know her only through her debut EP, Minor Details, released in January 2026, and her recent singles, the newly released follow-up EP, Lovesick, offers the ideal opportunity to discover a rapidly emerging star.
Van Gelder’s music is deeply personal, sometimes painfully so, and Lovesick feels like her clearest expression of that to date. Across seven tracks, the Amsterdam-based singer-songwriter guides us through the different stages of love gone wrong without ever allowing the record to become weighed down by sadness.
Van Gelder crafts enchanting narratives about longing, rejection, frustration, escapism and letting go, delivering them with a lightness of touch rooted in the warmth, humour and optimism that shine through at every turn.
Even when the subject matter is heavy, the music remains light, intimate and easy to sit with. Although much of the storytelling is not directly autobiographical, personal experiences and those of close friends lie at the heart of every track.
Van Gelder has spoken about keeping journals from a young age and her preference for putting thoughts and feelings into words when they are too uncomfortable or embarrassing to say aloud. This lends the language and subject matter across Lovesick an honesty and originality that feel entirely natural to her, while the slightly unorthodox phrasing is all the more intriguing given that English is not her first language.
The EP is at its strongest when Van Gelder revisits situations that felt different in the moment, allowing time and distance to reshape her perspective.
Track three, ‘I Don’t Want To Fall In Love Again’, captures this reflective quality particularly well. Van Gelder acknowledges that she ‘should’ve known better and called it off right away’ because ‘you were never really good enough’, while also reckoning with ‘all the precious time I’ve wasted’, ‘buying into every story’ and the realisation that ‘every memory is haunted’.
By contrast, Van Gelder’s humour and lightness of touch take centre stage on the opening track, ‘Kissing You Away’. This break-up song swaps wallowing in heartbreak for the prospect of a night out, embracing the freedom and fun of moving on rather than allowing the end of a relationship to hold you back.
While Van Gelder’s particular brand of bedroom pop may not appeal to listeners drawn to louder, edgier sounds, Lovesick offers a fascinating balance of vulnerability and confidence. Dreamy melodies, layered yet accessible storytelling, and carefree, often comical tales of heartbreak give these songs a surprising depth and staying power.
In a musical landscape where much vocal-led pop can feel increasingly formulaic, Isabel Van Gelder has the kind of talent that makes you stop and listen. With more than one million Instagram followers and a comparable number of monthly Spotify listeners, her star is rising rapidly. On the strength of Lovesick, her future looks very bright indeed.
All writing and photography by David Angel for The Songbird HQ