néomí is the moniker for folk - pop singer - songwriter Neomi Speelman who writes authentic and sincere stories backed by dreamy soundscapes inspired by the classic folk songwriters, old and new alike.
Although born in The Netherlands, Neomi is half Dutch/Surinamese after her mother moved from Suriname as a child. As a youngster, Neomi’s first step into music didn’t exactly start on the right foot when she was told she had to attend piano tuitions. It was agreed that Neomi would attend the lessons for 5 years and afterwards she could decide whether to continue or not. Nevertheless 5 years passed and the unimpressed Neomi quit the piano and vowed never to play music again.
4 years would float by until Neo mi would find herself at a musical junction. During a browse on a popular Internet video website she stumbled across a live video of Ben Howard performing ‘Old Pine’ with a cellist in tow. Spellbound and inspired, Neomi came out of her musical retirement, picked up a guitar and began teaching herself how to play from online tutorials.
As her skill and confidence grew, Neomi applied to music schools and, due to an administrative error, was invited to audition in Amsterdam. Despite being too young to apply, she was offered a place at the school based on her raw talent and potential. Over the next 4 years she would hone her songwriting and sound, her main influences stemming between Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, and hero Ben Howard. She says of the trio “their lyrics are outstanding and insanely beautiful. I don’t think they make songs, but they make art, poems. That’s something I also really try to do; make little poems instead of songs.”
néomí released her debut 5 song EP ‘before’ on June 24 th 2022 via [PIAS] which has garnered 3 million streams to date. She supported Novo Amor, HAEVN, The Slow Show and Jonathan Jeremiah on their 2022 shows in The Netherlands and was named both OOR and 3voor12 Talent for the end of year Popronde tour. After performing at ESNS 2023 sh e was voted the #5 best act by 3voor12 and she was awarded 3FM Talent by national radio station 3FM. The station would go on to nominate her for ‘Best Newcomer’ at their annual awards ceremony. In March néomí was invited by SYML to open on his European tou r, returning to the road the following month when label mate Jonathan Jeremiah asked her to join him on 10 tour dates over Europe. Latest EP 'after' was released on April 14th with néomí's biggest headline show taking place at a sold - out Paradiso in Amsterdam on May 7th.
October 5 th saw the release of ‘your girl’, given its radio premier on BBC 6Music by none other than Steve Lamacq. XITE NL also selected néomí as their ‘Kickstart’ artist for October which saw the music video for the single give n additional rotation on their channel. Prior to its release, néomí was invited to Matt Corby to open for him on several European shows. Newest single ‘somebody’s daughter’ is set for release on January 11th 2024. The release comes before 2 showcase festiv al appearances: one at ESNS, Groningen later in January and the other at SXSW, Austin in March. Fans can expect more single releases in the lead up to the album which will be released in May 2024 and supported by a headline Netherlands tour, finishing at Amsterdam’s Tolhuistuin on May 25th.
