🇳🇱 Beyond Eurovision: S10

To date, there have been 1,758 entries in the Eurovision Song Contest history. As Eurofans, we may only know these artists from one or two songs, but every artist that has performed at the contest has an extensive backlog. This series, Beyond Eurovision, aims to shine a light on some of the That Eurovision Site team’s favourite Eurovision artists’ discographies. Today, we head into De Diepte with a look at S10, who represented The Netherlands at Eurovision 2022.

Who is S10?

S10 (pronounced Es-teen) is the stage name of Stien den Hollander, a 23 year old singer and rapper from Hoorn in North Holland, The Netherlands. She is perhaps best known outside of the Dutch speaking world for representing The Netherlands in Eurovision 2022 with her song “De Diepte” – the first Eurovision entry in the Dutch language since 2010. She would go onto place 11th in Turin, ending up with 171 points. De Diepte would peak at #1 in the Dutch charts, her first song to do so, and #4 in the Flemish Charts, as well as reaching a high of #8 in Lithuania. However, “De Diepte” (sorry) of her discography goes far beyond what we saw at Eurovision.

The Beginning / Antipsychotica and Lithium

The story of S10 began in 2016 with a 16-year-old and a pair of Apple headphones when she released her debut, self-written and recorded, mini-album, “Antipsychotica” on SoundCloud.

The mini album focuses on her experience with mental health struggles, and features tracks such as Zonder Reden (No Reason) and Chimi (Chemistry). It is clear that this is the efforts of a teenager with no backing other than her own back, her voice hasn’t fully matured for instance, but there is a clear sign of the S10 of today in the sound and the lyrics that make this a very promising debut release.

My recommendation is Zonder Reden – which has a good beat and is bursting with emotion.

That promise was recognised the following year by rapper Jiggy Djé, who signed her to his record label Noah’s Ark, which featured artists such as Diggy Dex and Yung Felix. Under the label, she would soon release a follow-up mini album, “Lithium”.

As with Antipsychotica, the name was derived from a variant of psychiatric medication, and sticks much to the same theme as her first release. The general teen angst and edginess carries over from Antipsychotica, but her growth as an artist, and the influence of her label, are as clear as day.

My recommendation from this one is FunX Hitje, which has a short runtime, but wouldn’t feel out of place as a later release of hers.

Hitting the charts / Snowsniper and Vlinders

Moving into 2019, S10 had a busy year, releasing her third, and to date latest, mini album “Diamonds” in March – the eponymous song of which would go on to be part of her debut LP, “Snowsniper” – named for Finnish soldier and sniper Simo Häyhä. Speaking with the Dutch newspaper Trouw, S10 said of the name: “I’m not interested in killing, but in the coldness, in being alone, at the core, a soldier strives for peace, just as I strive for peace with myself.”

In terms of the mood of the album, much like Stien herself during the production, the mood is a lot lighter (though still by no means upbeat) than with her previous EPs, which were written during a particularly dark period in the artist’s life, two years later, and with the album release coinciding with her 19th birthday, she was doing a lot better.

In terms of debut albums, I’ll earnestly say I haven’t heard many better. This was the start of a move towards being solely a Nederhop artist to incorporating alt-pop into her artistry, and she made the transition flawlessly. The album entered the Dutch Album charts at a modest 61st.

Despite the lack of charting success, the album won S10 her first Edison Award (Think the Dutch Grammies) – taking a richly deserved victory in the Alternative category.

Through tough competition from the likes of Zo Zijn and Laat Mij Niet Gaan, my favourite track of the album has to be Al Lang Niet Meer Mij, a collaboration with Kraantje Pappie, which expertly combines S10’s trademark emotion with a fantastic Nederhop sound.

The final track, Wacht Op Mij, feels like a nice callback to Intro from Antipsychotica with its spoken word elements.

Vlinders (Butterflies) was S10’s 2020 release, coming a year and 5 days after Snowsniper.

In my opinion, whilst there are a few songs on the album that I’d count as a ‘miss’ – the ‘hits’ far outweigh them – the greatest of which being Kapot (Broken) – a song about feeling as such after a relationship. The synth and piano elements to the track combine brilliantly, alongside S10’s vocals to create an almost otherworldly feeling to the song. Very honourable mentions go also to Vleugels (Wings) and Gelogen (Lied).

The album released modest charting success on digital release, but upon the vinyl release the album returned to the charts, at a new peak of #5. It also earned S10 her second Edison nomination, also in the alternative category,though this time not taking the crown, with the award going to Effje De Visser.

Before and Beyond / Adem Je In and Laat Me Los

This is what I like to say is the start of modern S10. An era heralded in by the single Adem Je In. (Breathe In). If you haven’t guessed by what you’ve read so far, I think it’s really good, and a great vibe setter for things to come on her most recent album.

The song quickly became her first major foray into the Dutch single charts, peaking at #19. A remix with rappers Frenna and Kevin would go much better than this, and reach the giddy heights of #3, and also be nominated for Best Song in the 2022 Edisons, one of two S10 had that year, the other coming in the category of Alternative for her 2021 singles, where she lost out to a good friend of hers, who I’ll talk more about later.

Some time during this period, S10 competed in something called “The Eurovision Song Contest” Which you might have heard of. She finished 11th with De Diepte, which became her first #1 single. But enough about that, this is Beyond Eurovision.

Her first single beyond the contest was a collaboration with BLØF, who have been a major force in the Dutch music scene for decades. Stien and Pascal (BLØF’s vocalist) blend together brilliantly, and the composition is the near perfection you’ve come to expect from S10 at this point.

The single best album I’ve ever heard / Ik Besta Voor Altijd Zolang Jij Aan Mij Denkt.

Very long title, I know. It means “I exist forever as long as you think of me” – and let me tell you, I will be thinking of this forever, because every single song is utterly brilliant, so much so that I’m not giving honourable mentions, just listen to the full thing.

The album was nominated for 2 Edisons (in addition to De Diepte taking 2nd place for best song) – winning best Dutch Language and taking the runner up spot in Best Album, which in my humble opinion is a robbery.

My favourite track on the album isn’t just my favourite S10 song, it’s my favourite “Beyond Eurovision” song of any artist, and it’s Hoor Je Mij. (Can You Hear Me). This was actually her other submission for Eurovision, and is so ridiculously me coded I can only assume it was written specifically with me in mind. I’ve fully ran out of superlatives for the song, so I figured I’d show rather than tell, below is a video of a live performance in Rotterdam. Enjoy.

Collaborations / Me getting to talk about Froukje as a treat

Remember the friend who beat her to an Edison award? That’s Froukje. You should also listen to her, by the way, she’s fantastic. She was a juror at Eurovision 2023, but more importantly featured on S10’s last album with Nooit Meer Spijt, and returned the favour with S10 featuring on Zonder Gezicht, which featured on her EP Uitzinning– which won her an Edison.

What makes this collaboration special is the Music Video released for the song, which got the duo nominated for yet another Edison award.

S10 also featured on Kevin’s track De Leven, which currently sits top of both artists’ Spotify popularity chart.

Why should you check her out?

If I’ve not convinced you so far I fear I never will, but one thing I will add is if you’re a live music fan, she plays plenty of shows, she was at Pinkpop Festival this past week, and is already amongst the list of artists confirmed for this year’s Het Grote Songfestivalfeest in December. This is in addition to a theatre tour across The Netherlands and Flanders.

If you’d like to get to learn more about her, she is the star of a documentary, following her life for two years, including her time at Eurovision. Those in the Netherlands or with a VPN that says you are can check it out on the NPO website.