Imagine Duncan Laurence when he starts work on ‘Skyboy’, his second album. He wants to find a new direction and grow. But he feels hemmed in. No big surprise. Think back for two years when Covid ruled. Everyone caught in lockdown.

With the song Arcade Duncan had won the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv on May 18, 2019, in an historical and sensational upset. His debut album Small Town Boy was finished and released soon after. So what next?

Like before, he starts collaborating with his big love and fiancé, Jordan Garfield. They’re aiming for intense and fiery songs. But first some barriers and demons need to be cleared away. During lockdown Duncan has been confronted with himself. Core questions he faced were: ‘Who am I, how do I function?’ “I grew up with the Dutch mentality of just be normal and you’ll be crazy enough,” he says. But in writing songs he often encounters self-imposed barriers that he’s afraid of breaking through.The time has come to start clearing them.

He has to shed his timidity and the influence of his upbringing. But there is also the bullying. Duncan was frightfully bullied in his youth. The resulting panic attacks and depression became a mental prison he had to escape from. And that’s where the title of his new album and the eponymous song Skyboy come in. As Duncan explains: “I had hidden myself for so long and was living a different version of who I really was. Time to break the chains. Ignore the voices in your head, the bullies with their just stay as you are and you’ll be safe. No more, now take flight and enjoy yourself!” This mental breakthrough is the leitmotif of ‘Skyboy’.

Duncan and Jordan spent one and a half years working on the album. Most of the music was recorded in Los Angeles “but also in other places where we were writing songs,” Duncan says. They worked with two producers from New Zealand, Sam de Jong and Leroy Clampitt. “They sometimes flew over and also used their laptop in New Zealand for the music. And then back to L.A. And I recorded with Jordan in Stockholm occasionally, or in Amsterdam.”

For ‘bigger dreams’ Duncan took inspiration from his old favourites Elton John, Freddy Mercury, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley. Their theatrical bent is pervasive on ‘Skyboy’. “Stars that hit the stage and shone, whatever was happening in their private lives. I thought, that’s what I want to do! That open-mindedness, the pure guts. Everything is possible and allowed. Then we went to Los Angeles, precisely the place where you can do all that. When I boarded the plane I said to myself: Nothing’s too far out, Duncan. Just dream your biggest dreams. Suddenly all sorts of doors opened and I thought: Can I really do that? Sing in an even higher register or even louder? Am I going to share my deeply felt stories and become even more personal?It was really scary, this thing of no filters allowed. Honest and pure. By taking this course I recovered pieces of my old self. And the songs came out in an almost diary style way. That’s how I got ever closer to the fire I was looking for, to the intensity and energy I’m feeling inside that before I could perhaps not fully project to my public.”

All these elements mentioned by Duncan figure strongly in the eleven songs on ‘Skyboy’. All the facets of his talent (vocal, compositional, lyrical, arranging, expression) are put across with more intensity. Both vulnerable and exalted. A prime example of this is the song Baby Blue, in which Duncan engages in vocal fireworks. “The kick I got from just letting it all out and thinking, go for it. Just raise the stakes and get to the heart of the story.”

The total surrender in Anything is his declaration of love to Jordan. “An all-out love song like I want to be with you forever and will sacrifice everything. It moves from the very light and tender (I will take care of you) to the almost desperate (Stay with me, never leave me) in a dramatic buildup I really love. Then there’s the lavish power ballad I’ve Waited All My Life For You. That’s another case of a no holds barred theatrical outing. A pure pop song about a love that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It is unconditional: I want the good and the bad, the highs and the lows.”

Strategically placed in the middle of the album there’s California Rose, an uplifting song which is quite different from the impression most people have of Duncan Laurence’s music. California Rose is a burst of sunny energy underpinned by a fresh, modern and forward looking sentiment. “In making the album I very much tried to mix a nostalgic sound with state of the art sound techniques. I was thinking of this sunny atmosphere, this blending of voices in sweet harmonies that was the stuff of my young dreams. The track on the album reflects a contrast. Sure, I still sing of heartbreaks and of how difficult love can be. But I also have an attitude of shrugging things off. It is not all melancholic, piano based and slow tempo. I get a warm feeling when I listen to California Rose, a laid-back sunshiny feel of holding a glass of beer in your hand and enjoying yourself with friends. Going for the upside, a party, a real festival track. I love festivals and feel at home there. I would also love to perform at festivals and sing these new songs there for all to enjoy.”

Small wonder that Duncan goes for the limit in the last song of the album, Biting My Tongue. “This is a really great song to end a festival performance with. It makes the whole album almost come across as a festival set with the show ending on an absolute mega finish. And at the same time it’s like an open ending for whatever comes next…”