Suzan & Freek say new album ‘Pijnstiller’ feels like a diary
Suzan & Freek’s fourth studio album, *Pijnstiller*, is their first since Freek Rikkerink’s incurable cancer diagnosis. The duo say making it felt like keeping a diary.
Review information is loading.
Dutch duo Suzan & Freek say their new album, *Pijnstiller*, was made like a diary, reflecting a period when their lives changed sharply. Released on Friday, it is their fourth studio album and their first since Freek Rikkerink was diagnosed with incurable, metastatic lung cancer in 2025.
In an Instagram post on release day, the musicians described the record as “our life in music” and said it gave a place to what the past year and a half had brought: “love, new life, beautiful moments, difficult days and sometimes the desire to stop time for a while”.
The couple shared photographs from the studio, including images of their baby son, Sef, with them there. They said music had given them something to hold on to and a way to put their feelings into words.
They are due to celebrate the album’s release with 1,500 fans at a sold-out show at Amsterdam’s Paradiso on Friday evening. Suzan & Freek have also announced a run of 2027 concerts in Amsterdam and Antwerp.
Sign in to give this article a thumbs up or down.
About this discussion and AI questions
Private test discussion. Comments are readers’ views and are not yet automatically fact-checked. Editing is available for 60 seconds after posting.
Sign in with a confirmed reader account and choose a username to read comments and participate.
Sorting applies to top-level comments; replies remain oldest first. New comments and likes can change the order. Refresh for the current ranking.
Loading comments…