As revellers head to the Noorderslag festival, more artists are finding success with their native tongue – at home and abroad
![The futures oranje: Dutch bands embrace their own language](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cd65b8d844ff1799381fa577f6a2fa9412fe9db9/0_19_4724_2834/master/4724.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=95d322f226cd21502256d6a6c4dc8234)
The major stars in the Dutch
music scene have rarely worn their nationality on their sleeves. It is difficult to imagine No Limit by 2 Unlimited or the Vengaboys’ enduring eurodance track Boom Boom Boom Boom achieving quite the same success in the artists’ native language.
As with Nederpop, a genre of music that enjoyed its moment under the disco-lights in the 1960s and 1970s, the stars seeking international success have generally sung in English or dispensed with words altogether; Dutch was left to the folk singers. Dutch-born Eddie Van Halen, who moved to
California with his family as a child, was never likely to insist that his eponymous band sang in his mother tongue.