K’s Choice

Formed by siblings Gert and Sam Bettens, K's Choice has grown from the grungy, cathartic band who scored a global hit with 1996's "Not an Addict" into a nuanced fixture on Belgium's music scene. The raw rock the band started out with on 1994's The Great Subconscious Club and 1996's platinum-selling breakthrough Paradise in Me eventually gave way to the more intimate, confessional style of 2000's Almost Happy. In the 2010s, K's Choice spanned the mellow, acoustic-tinged introspection of 2010's Echo Mountain to the lively reinterpretations of their own music and other artists' on 2018's Love = Music, all of which were united by Sam Bettens' smoky, expressive vocals. Sam and Gert Bettens grew up playing music in Antwerp and fronted a band named the Basement Plugs while they were still in their teens. The group's performance brought Sam to the attention of a label, and he recorded covers of songs for film soundtracks, including a 1992 version of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" that became a hit in Belgium. When Sam was offered a record contract, he and Gert formed the band the Choice. By 1993, the group's lineup included guitarist Jan van Sichem, Jr., drummer Bart Van der Zeeuw, and bassist Erik Verheyden. However, their first album, 1994's The Great Subconscious Club, was recorded by the Bettens brothers with other musicians. The Choice toured Europe and the U.S., supporting Morphine, the Proclaimers, and the Indigo Girls, but when they discovered an American group by the same name, they rechristened themselves K's Choice. After signing an American deal with Epic, the band's second album Paradise in Me appeared in 1996. A tighter and more polished set of songs featuring the brooding international hit single "Not an Addict," it was a success not only in Europe -- it was certified gold in Belgium, platinum in the Netherlands, and charted in several other countries -- but in the U.S. as well, where it reached number 121 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. Despite this success, the band's lineup was in flux; Verheyden exited the lineup, and several different players cycled through the group until they eventually settled on American bassist Eric Grossman. Meanwhile, tours across Europe pushed "Not an Addict" further into the mainstream and Alanis Morissette took the band on tour in 1996 and 1997. For their third album, K's Choice worked with producer Gil Norton (Pixies, James, Catherine Wheel). Arriving in 1998, Cocoon Crash offered a lighter version of the band's music and went platinum in Belgium and Holland, with "Believe" and "Everything for Free" enjoying a good deal of airplay in those countries. Despite the band's heavy touring schedule, they made an appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1999, and their song "Virgin State of Mind" was included on the TV series' soundtrack, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album. Following the departure of van der Zeew, drummer Koen Lieckens joined the fold and appeared on 2000's Almost Happy. Mixed by Tchad Blake, the album took a more melancholy, intimate approach. A Top Five hit in Belgium and a Top Ten hit in the Netherlands, Almost Happy was followed by 2001's Live, a double-disc collection of concert highlights. When Almost Happy arrived in the U.S. in 2002, it included selections from Live as well as artwork by Gert Bettens. Late in 2002, K's Choice went on hiatus. Following the release of 10: 1993 - 2003 Ten Years Of, a retrospective of hits, previously unreleased songs and the exclusive single "Losing You," Gert and Sam pursued individual projects. Sam released three solo albums, 2005's Scream, 2007's Shine, and the following year's live album Never Say Goodbye. Gert did some production work and formed the band Woodface, who released their debut, Good Morning Hope, in 2005 and followed it with 2007's Comet. Woodface opened for some of Sam's shows in 2007 and 2008, and in 2009, K's Choice reunited to perform at that year's Folk Dranouter Festival in Belgium. The band also began recording their fifth album in North Carolina. Named for the studio where it was made, 2010's Echo Mountain was another hit in Belgium and the Netherlands and spawned the 2011 acoustic EP Little Echoes. The Bettens returned to Echo Mountain studio to record 2013's Waving at the Sun, a set of songs for a documentary about an Antarctic expedition that was released in several countries as a K's Choice release. Sam and Gert took a more collaborative songwriting approach on their next official K's Choice album, 2015's Alain Johannes-produced Phantom Cowboy, that reached number three in Belgium and number 12 in the Netherlands. The tour for the album took K's Choice to the U.S. for the first time in a decade, and the live album The Backpack Sessions featured acoustic versions of the band's songbook as well as covers of songs by Aretha Franklin and Justin Bieber. Early in 2017, the band celebrated its 25th anniversary by releasing a new version of "Not an Addict" that included Skunk Anansie's Skin on vocals. The track appeared on 25, a career retrospective that also included the previously unreleased song "Resonate." Another tour followed, with 2018's Live at the Ancienne Belgique documenting the band's December 2017 show at the Brussels venue. Later that year, the Bettens appeared on the Belgian TV show Liefde voor Muziek, in which seven musical artists share a house for eight weeks and perform each other's music. Their time on the series inspired that year's Love = Music, a collection of songs they performed on the show, the covers from Little Echoes and The Backpack Sessions, and the original song "Meaningless." K's Choice toured in support of the album through 2019, and began reissuing their discography as limited-edition vinyl releases. Around this time, Sam Bettens debuted his electronic pop project Rex Rebel, which also featured K's Choice keyboardist Reinout Swinnen and drummer Wim Van der Westenthe; the group's debut album, Run, appeared in early 2020. In mid-2021, K's Choice set off on another extensive tour, while their vinyl reissues included 10: 1993 - 2003 in 2022.
© Heather Phares & MacKenzie Wilson /TiVo