Baby Condor Introduces Soulful World on Their Self-Titled Debut EP
- Dave Bedford
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Baby Condor steps into the spotlight with their self-titled debut EP, a six-track introduction to a rich, melodic world shaped by harmony, analogue warmth, and timeless songwriting. Led by the single “Dreaming of the Day”, the EP invites listeners to disappear into a sun-soaked, melancholic journey across American highways, coastal roads, and hazy canyon evenings, a place where memory, longing, and reflection gently collide.
Baby Condor is the project of Dutch brothers Nolle and Beinte Groen, who, after more than 20 years of making music together, finally turned inward to create something entirely their own. Written, arranged, performed, and produced almost entirely by the duo, the EP was crafted in their hand-soldered Mermaid Studio, a converted shed built during the pandemic that became both laboratory and sanctuary. Here, tradition and experimentation meet: real instruments, analogue gear, live performances, and a deep belief in the studio as an instrument in itself.
Drawing inspiration from the Great American Songbook and iconic artists such as James Taylor, Paul Simon, Harry Nilsson, Marvin Gaye, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, and Elton John, Baby Condor’s sound feels familiar yet unmistakably personal. Their music is free of strict genre boundaries, blending pop and folk with orchestral, soulful, and cinematic textures. Influences from contemporary artists like Jonathan Wilson, D’Angelo, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and Michael Kiwanuka can be felt in the EP’s depth, warmth, and immersive production.
The lead single, “Dreaming of the Day”, captures the emotional core of the record. Melancholic, dreamy, and quietly powerful, the song reflects on relationships that drift from intensity into routine, and the fragile hope that things might still be turned around.
The due states the track is about “wondering, after an intense time together, if someone is here to stay or will soon fade to less than a memory.”
The EP was built layer by layer. Initial live band sessions laid the foundation, with drum takes preserved as the heartbeat of each track. From there, the brothers spent months sculpting arrangements with analogue gear, filling harmonic space and texture with patience and intention. While Nolle and Beinte play most instruments themselves, the EP features a carefully chosen group of guest musicians, including pedal steel, piano, Hammond, brass, strings, and woodwinds, giving the record its lush, orchestral feel.
Authenticity sits at the heart of Baby Condor’s ethos. “Music must have soul,” says Beinte Groen. “Not just entertainment, but artistic meaning and identity. The atmosphere, the illusion of a song, is just as important as the melody and lyrics.” For Nolle, Baby Condor represents “the culmination of a two-decade search for the perfect record we will never find”, a body of work rooted in craft, honesty, and human themes.
Backcountry Towns opens the EP with a gentle but pointed reflection aimed at those who’ve drifted too far from simple human truths. Bathed in pedal steel and an upbeat, sunlit feel, it invites the listener to slow down and reconnect with what really matters.
Seventeen unfolds as a coming-of-age story stretched across time, tracing the journey of growing up, losing touch with what you once loved, and eventually realising that no one else gets to define your passions. Its orchestrated narrative moves fluidly through memory and self-discovery.
Lifetime Come & Gone turns inward, meditating on loss and the unanswered question of what comes after life. Rich string arrangements and a jazzy flugelhorn outro give the song a reflective, almost otherworldly atmosphere.
At the heart of the EP sits Dreaming of the Day, an emotional centrepiece that looks back on the early spark of a relationship now dulled by routine. Its dreamy bridge and instantly memorable chorus capture the fragile hope of trying to turn things around before everything fades.
Saw You in a Song shifts into a blues-tinged sailor tale, confronting the realisation that a long friendship was one-sided all along. With its layered “sailor choir” and gritty warmth, the track is about cutting loose from bad influences and emotional gaslighting.
Closing the EP, Silver Stereo delivers a sharp critique of treating music as a commodity, while celebrating it as an art form. Inspired by the Luxman stereo that first introduced the brothers to their musical heroes, the song swells with an anthem-like chorus and a soulful Hammond solo.
With their debut EP, Baby Condor offer real songs, about real themes, made with real instruments. It’s an ode to a time when songwriting craft and analogue technology captured generations, and a reminder that this approach still resonates deeply today.
Buy Baby Condor's Limited run vinyl HERE
