Release Date: 1 January 2026
Song Count: 24
Rating: 9.5/10
Description:
Oh hey, look who's back. And even the cover art on this one's a callback to the earlier record, so this could not have been more of a full-circle moment! Eight and a half years later, Joost Klein has gone from essentially an unknown face in the music scene to one of the most recognisable artists from not only the gabber and electronic hardcore corners of music, but debatably even from his country, the Netherlands, as a whole. Especially ever since his breakout in 2024, he seems to very much have embraced these parts of himself and his public persona as well, fully leaning into being the "dutchest" musician out there and going all in on what he's found is both the most fun music to make and the music most in demand by the fans he has acquired, as evident by the many, many songs on this newest release right at the turn of the year.
Infectiously catchy, danceable, energetic and - most of all - extremely silly tracks is what modern Joost's output is all about, and it is on full display in practically every single track on Kleinkunst. Lyrics range between all sorts of topics and levels of seriousness, from satirical and light-hearted takes on feeling tired from living a life under capitalism and partying to feel free from the stresses of the world, to very random and delightfully nonsensical things such as horse supremacy and eating onions, and between this, the juggling of genres and ways of delivering these lines, whether it be via rapping, singing or letting the beats speak for themselves, and every other small detail such as the addition of occasional meme sound effects, the album bites off large with his humongous amount of content, but chews it thoroughly as it offers all it promises and much more.
Joost is far from alone on this massive project as well - from established artists located in multiple corners of Europe, including a former Eurovision star, to other musicians who are no strangers to making comedic music, and even a brand new Spotify profile named after one of Joost's previous songs with a stock image of an onion as their profile picture, all sorts of collaborating individuals find themselves scattered throughout these tracks. The entire listening experience feels like being at a massive party that brings in infinite energy and could go on for an eternity - and with how off-the-walls (or potentially more like wall-demolishing) the collection of songs in the record's arsenal is, there is no shred of worry about things feeling stale or uninteresting at any point.
It may be surprising to see the exact same artist who, when reviewed on one of his earlier albums, got a very low score on the site, now be praised up to the moon and back, but if anything, this showcases how Joost Klein has truly evolved both personally and musically since when Scandinavian Boy released, as he's gone beyond just "finding his footing" in his craft and having a eureka moment that changed it all for the better, and has become a full-on icon who now paves his own way and is seeing the payoff from it in real time. Kleinkunst is the album I would put on to try to fully capture what Joost's best music encompasses: a lot to offer, a variety of musical flavours to pick and choose from, a humorous, almost whimsical approach to every step on the way, and most importantly, guaranteed fun all around no matter the choices made. One could perhaps go as far to say that the day this album's music gets old is the day joy in the world has vanished.