Some records are built around a single idea. Others feel like a collection of moments that slowly reveal something bigger about the people who made them. For Dutch alternative indie rock band After Eight, The Reach belongs firmly in the second category. Their debut EP is a five song exploration of love, longing, fear, escape and vulnerability, capturing the uncomfortable spaces that exist between wanting something deeply and being afraid of what it might cost.
After Eight began in early 2023 in an unusually simple way. As guitarist Jelle van der Sar prepared to leave his childhood home, he and vocalist and guitarist Sonja Wilhart organised a garage concert to mark the occasion. Most of the set was made up of covers, but two original songs changed the atmosphere. The response from those in attendance suggested that the pair had stumbled onto something worth developing.
Drummer Joram van Noort joined soon after, reconnecting with Sonja after the two had played music together as teenagers. The project gradually became more serious, and the decision was made to move away from covers and concentrate entirely on original material. Sako Milikian came in on bass, before recommending his former bandmate Tim Grootscholten for the lead guitar role. The five piece lineup was complete.
That history is important to the sound of The Reach. After Eight do not stay in one emotional or sonic place for long. Their music can hit with the weight of alternative rock before suddenly becoming restrained and intimate. Indie rock, folk rock, shoegaze, experimental rock and post punk all find space within their sound, with influences that include Radiohead, Mother Mother, Nothing But Thieves, Deftones, Arctic Monkeys, Geese, Royal Blood, Big Thief and Black Country, New Road.
At the centre of it all is songwriting that begins with something personal. A lyric, an idea or a feeling often arrives through Sonja before the rest of the band takes it apart and rebuilds it together. That collaborative process allows the songs to develop naturally, sometimes taking unexpected turns through changes in arrangement, bridges or dynamics.
The result is an EP that understands vulnerability without romanticising it. The Reach is interested in the complicated realities of caring for someone, imagining a future that never happens, wanting connection while fearing intimacy, running from difficult emotions and questioning whether love can really be trusted.
There is anger and grief in the record, but there is also tenderness. The songs recognise that the things we care about most can also leave us exposed. Rather than trying to hide from that contradiction, After Eight make it part of their identity.
Recorded at Raiko Records with Stijn Donders after two years of writing and developing the material, The Reach represents an important first chapter for the band. What started as a small garage performance has grown into a five piece group with a clear sense of direction and a sound that can move comfortably between heavy and fragile.
For listeners, the appeal is simple. These are songs for singing loudly in the car, moving around the living room, or sitting quietly with when the day is over. The Reach does not pretend that vulnerability is easy. It simply finds something worth holding onto inside it.
Find After Eight:
Spotify: After Eight on Spotify
YouTube: After Eight on YouTube
Instagram: @aftereightband on Instagram
TikTok: @aftereightband on TikTok
Website: aftereightofficial.com
