LIJO

Being a restless creative butterfly and a multi-instrumentalist, Merit Visser a.k.a LIJO and her music have proven to be difficult to put in a box - and as being labeled is what bothers her the most, she rather refers to her work simply as ‘songs and such’. Having been the driving force behind cinematic four-piece Ilen Mer and exploring the confines of solo piano work under the moniker AMIMEA, Visser is a songwriter first and foremost; though her music is always in motion, she never loses sight of her signature innovative melodies and her literate, colourful approach to lyrics. Putting out music ranging from gnarling synth-pop tracks to naked close to a capella songs, she seems to have made her peace with the idea that her songs reflect a temporary state of an ever evolving artist. Her latest release Devils In Details is her resistance to the idea you always have to give more. That ‘being someone’ is always in the future. That someone else’s perception of you matters the most. LIJO: “I wrote this song as an outlet for my struggle with what success in life means to me. We can strive for something better, we can try hard to fit in, to make it, but in that process I think many of us follow paths that are carved out by society’s expectations or the pressure we put on ourselves. We run and run without realising what success means for us personally and if we are chasing what we really need, and often lose ourselves.” After the groovy songs like ‘Future Memory’ and ‘Bee Suits’ and the hauntingly minimalistic ‘Spell’, Devils In Details shows a transformation from cold, machine-like sounds towards a warmer and more dramatic soundscape, and this transformation comes with a revelation: more of this will appear on the upcoming debut album, out October 27th, 2023. From 2019 on, LIJO has toured the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, England and Sweden. Recently she has been collaborating with her go-to cello player Mirthe de Jonge, with whom she brings full on electronic shows as wel