Daisy Cools & The Europe Files

(for bits and pieces of press scroll down)

Daisy Cools proudly presents her new EP. The Paris File - a collection of songs that the singer/songwriter wrote while she was living in Paris for a few months. The single Be Good, the perfect summer soundtrack with a slightly dark lyric, is already receiving quite some attention. The EP is the first in a series of six called The Europe Files. Each and every EP in the series will be inspired by a different European city Daisy will live in for a few months. The interesting project by the singer brought her to Palermo last summer, where Daisy stayed for four months. Daisy is currently in the middle of recording the 2nd EP, The Palermo File. Release is set for January 2012.

Daisy was born on December 4th 1981 near Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Growing up Daisy didn't spend a single minute at home without hearing great pop/rock music. As a child she would sing along to songs and record it on a small tape- recorder. That way she was trying to improve constantly - admitted, this kind of behaviour was often perceived a bit strange. When Daisy was thirteen she started performing in small bars with her first band and started to write songs on guitar. Later on she expanded her horizon by  playing and writing songs on piano as well.

Daisy released her first album titled Soultraffic in 2006 and shortly after she was given the chance to attend a weeklong songwriting course with Ray Davies. Of course Daisy packed her bags, took off to the UK and had an amazing week in which she improved her songwriting skills, of course every bit as obsessively as she once recorded her vocals on a taperecorder.

In 2007 Daisy got very lucky when she met with producer Chris Grem who had heard her play an obscure gig somewhere in a basement. He offered her the chance to record her next album with him. Daisy and Chris took their time to figure out what did and did not feel right. In the middle of it all Daisy organised a UK tour which lasted a month. Very inspirational and of course she returned to Chris with the last few songs for the new album up her sleeve. Early 2009 Daisy did a little research on how the new sound would be received by promoting one of the newly recorded songs. The song - Save Another Life - did very well on the radio.

As soon as all the songs were recorded Daisy saw a parallel in the lyrics; they all had to do with secrets and mysteries. Everyone keeps at least a few secrets, some of which they don't even know about themselves. The only right title for the album would be The Secrets We Keep.

The Secrets We Keep, which was released November 13th 2009, entered the Dutch Indie Charts at no.16 in the 1st week after release. The singles and videos (always by Rotterdam based filmmakers Turbo Turbo) lead to quite some airplay and live performances on Dutch national and regional radio and tv channels. Highlights were performances on Giel Beelen's morningshow on 3FM (March 23rd) and shows on Radio 2. The Secrets We Keep was received very well by the Dutch press as well.

"Haar naam is bovendien al uitgelekt via Save Another Life, een typisch radiohitje dat iedereen al dan niet bewust of onbewust kent en de nieuwe single heeft alles in zich om dit succes te evenaren te meer daar een opvallende clip bij gemaakt is. Om verfijnde, welbespraakte, en klassieke damespop toe te voegen aan de traditie zoals bijvoorbeeld Suzanne Vega en Fiona Apple dat kunnen, heeft Daisy na The Secrets We Keep geen mentor meer nodig. Evengoed bedankt, Ray!" translation "Her name got out when her song Save Another Life, turned out a small radio hit that everybody knows - be it subconsciously in some cases - the new single should be able to live up to this succes. Daisy adds to the tradition of refined, well-spoken ladies pop music like Suzanna Vega and Fiona Apple do. She no longer needs a mentor. Thanks anyway, Ray!" Albert Jonker for PlatoMania

"Daisy Cools is muzikaal enorm gegroeid."..."De liedjes zijn stuk voor stuk verpakt in mooie muziek en gebracht met een sublieme en zuivere zangstem.".."The Secrets We Keep is een gevarieerd album vol prachtige songs."  translation "Daisy Cools has grown a great deal musically."..."All the songs are performed with a sublime voice."..."The Secrets We keep is a versatile album full of tremendous songs." Marin van Campen voor 3voor12

"Met Save Another Life heeft Daisy Cools al behoorlijk wat media - aandacht gehad. Dit vrolijke lied met sombere ondertoon doet denken aan Lily Allen, maar om Cools dan meteen weg te zetten als een kloon van de zoveelste Engelse hitzangeres gaat te ver. Cools heeft daar te veel talent voor." ....de veelzijdigheid van Cools blijkt uit Red." translation "Daisy Cools got quite a lot of media attention with her song Save Another Life. This upbeat song carrying a gloomy undertone is reminiscent of Lily Allen, but to consider Daisy a clone of a British singer would not be right. Daisy is too talented for that." DI-Lan Sun for Fret

"Qua stem doet Daisy soms denken aan Susanna Hoffs. Crazy is een nummer dat zo op Radio 2 zou kunnen en hele groepen mensen zal aanspreken." translation "Daisy's voice resembles Susanna Hoffs sometimes. The song Crazy is perfectly right for Radio 2 and will appeal to many, many people." Nico Slagter for Music Maker

"Ook de eerste indruk van de muziek van Cools is verbluffend: mooie popnummers met een soul ondergrond. Pakkende melodieën, impressing lyrics en heerlijke noten zorgen voor een "feel good-effect"....Het eerste nummer, de single 'If You Didn't Know' is op YouTube al favoriet. Het vrolijke en zomerse nummer is aanstekelijk. Sowieso weet de Rotterdamse, met haar pure gevoel en gedegen inlevingsvermogen de luisteraar te boeien. - translation: Cools' music is stunning: beautiful popsongs with a hint of soul. Catchy melodies, impressing lyrics make for a feel good vibe"...The first song on the album 'If You Didn't Know is doing well on YouTube. The upbeat, sunny song is catchy. Daisy manages to capture you with her capacity to sympathize"  Laura 't Hoen for Musicfrom.nl

The Secrets We Keep (Soultraffic Records/ Rough Trade) is in stores now, both physically and digitally.