How to survive in the world of club music, with all its niches and subcultures and its trends changing so rapidly? Go underground, the avant-garde way? Go mad and stop making music all together? Jump ship constantly? Or try to make something more universal and timeless? For their third full-length release, Belgian dance act The Subs decided to make a pop album with heartfelt soul, filmic French retrofuturism and crisp beats. eHologram is an album that displays many moods and styles and sees The Subs working together with both renowned international vocalists and underground singers and rappers: Colonel Abrams, Selah Sue, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Jay Brown and Danny Greene. With two albums under their belt, Jeroen De Pessemier (David Newtron) and Wiebe Loccufier (DJ Tonic) have been touring around the world for five years - London, Barcelona or Sydney, Tomorrowland, Bestival, Lowlands, Les EurockEennes n you name it. Some major changes took place within the band over the past years. In 2012, songwriter/frontman Jeroen De Pessemier moved to London, absorbing new musical influences there like the UK garage and house revival. After the release of their second album eDecontrol, Wiebe Loccufier started producing beats and evolved from dj into producer. Finally, by recruiting Hadrien Lavogez, The Subs got themselves a genuine multi-instrumentalist with an incredible knack for melody. This whole new dynamic pushed The Subs towards a more pop-based sound for eHologram. eTrapped is a rendition of the 1985 street-smart R&B hit by Colonel Abrams. Urged by that other ecolonel, their good friend Mon Colonel of the Liege-based squad The Party Harders, The Subs invited the legendary American singer to Belgium to re-record his vocals. In the end, the original acapella got cleared after all, but Colonel Abrams visit to Belgium wasnt entirely unnecessary: he left The Subs with some good stories. Wiebe: eOne evening during dinner, Colonel Abrams tried to convince us of the fact that he made the first house record: eRelease the Tension, a track from 1984 that he recorded with Boyd Jarvis. We dont know if that actually is true, but its a damn good track. And a bold statement! Another international icon who paid a visit to the Subs-studio is French actor Jean-Pierre Castaldi: one might know this veteran of cinEma from the eAstErix-movies. Castaldi is the deep warm voice that you hear on eConcorde, an upbeat retrofuturistic track that is both an ode to the supersonic wonder of 20th century technology and a love song. Jeroen: eJean-Pierre was an actor, more than a singer, in our studio: he wanted to know precisely what we wanted - we were his edirectors. And his rider demanded that we had a bottle of quality bourbon whisky in the studio too (laughs). Deep emotions are laid bare in the bouncy eLive in a Dream (Selah Sue) and the dreamy triphoppy eFly (London-based Jay Brown). Jay Brown is actually VV Browns talented younger sister: a singer-songwriter that Jeroen discovered during an open mic night in London. Brown can also be heard in the tracks e27, eUnder My Skin, eCling To Love, eThe Hand and eHologram. Jeroen: eAs soon as I stumbled into that pub and saw Jay play her songs on acoustic guitar, I was infatuated with her voice and songs. We used some of her demos on this record and wrote some new songs with her as well. Wiebe: eWith three band members living in different cities, different countries even, this whole album was an email affair: I sent my beats to Jeroen en Hadrien, whose song craft turned them into full-bodied tracks. I never even met Jay before the album was finished! But somehow, that long-distance relationship worked for us. It worked indeed, as eHologram is an album on which The Subs explore both a playfulness and a vulnerability that is new to them. This album is still brimming with energy, but the dark dance-punk of the previous record has been traded for a much more soulful vibe. Wiebe eWeve done five years of very loud music and very specific, really intense live performances: it was time for something else. After our last gigs, I saw it in Jeroens eyes: fear of routine. If theres one thing Jeroens not very good at, its faking something (laughs). Jeroen eI think its only a logical progression: paying more attention to songwriting, melodies, feelings and lyrics. Although there was no concept at all when we started recording a year ago. We didnt follow any trend. eWiebe eFrom hiphop to UK house, we absorbed a lot of influences, but this is still Subs-music. We took our time, trusted our gut instinct. Jeroen eThats why we called the album eHologram: we like to think of songs as dreams, subliminal ideas, revelations almost. No more wild nights for The Subs? Think again. eThe Bottle features a monologue by Danny Greene - an underground grime artist Jeroen bumped into in London - that is philosophical, naOve, arrogant, hilarious and funky at the same time. Dannys soliloquy catapults you right into that afterparty at 7.00 AM, when the hazy dreamy morning light is breaking through the window and the madness of the night is still tangible. eHologram was conceived on an equally intriguing intersection: its The Subs most accessible and experimental record to date.