Helsloot – also known as Thomas Helsloot – is snowballing his success. Clocking up staggering listening figures online and looking forward to a European tour with melodic compadres Tinlicker in 2026, the future looks bright.
He’s also just released Body Language Vol. 27, which came out last month on legendary label Get Physical. The album’s positive reception was bolstered by a recent triumphant launch at iconic Amsterdam venue Melkweg. Described as ‘evolving from a compilation to a cohesive artist album’, Helsloot’s release on the legendary series brings melodic charge and a vocal-led direction that bridges the legacy of Body Language with a new generation of listeners, reimagining what an artist-led mix can be.
With a happy medium of remixes and collaborations with the likes of Audiofly, Definition, Sailor & I, M.A.N.D.Y, and Booka Shade, to the dancefloor ascension of original stormers Mambo and Thinking of Us, Helsloot has unveiled a masterpiece in subtle subgenre transgression.
So, when one grey winter’s day in Amsterdam I was given the chance to interview him, I was delighted.
Humble and affable, Helsloot’s story has a touch of magic about it. For many years he worked diligently behind the scenes in the studio as a writer and producer, before a fortuitous alliance with electronic music group Tinlicker lit the flame for the meteoric melodies of collaborative track Because You Move Me.
Currently creeping towards 655 million listens on Spotify alone, thanks to some viral input from TikTok around the time of the pandemic, the track swung a different trajectory for Helsloot, from the shadows of the studio towards main-stage limelight. But with the highs sadly come some lows, and with a recent bereavement in his family, it’s been a year of heightened emotions.
Musically, Helsloot is arguably more dynamic than many of his melodic counterparts, with essences of club sounds and past influences of hip-hop and RnB coming into the fray. This open-mindedness is evident in Body Language Vol. 27. We discuss what influenced the album and the soul behind it.
First off, how was the album release event at Melkweg last month?
It was amazing. It was a very magical night. There was so much energy, it was crazy. There were a lot of family and a lot of friends there. It was also a bit of an emotional night, as my dad passed away a couple of months ago and he used to come to all my events. So this was the first one without him. In a way, he was there, and I feel that people could feel that – that he was in the room.
Does any of the rawness of that emotion feature in the album?
There is a track on the album I did with Thomas Mullarney from Beacon called I Was There. He actually sang on the title track from Never Tried, my last album, and flew over from the US to record I Was There.
We had some similar experiences about people leaving our lives that we loved, and wrote a song about it. It feels really relevant now because of the recent loss of my dad, and so it gets this whole new layer of emotion for me. I think it’s the most emotional track on there, which mirrors my feeling at the moment.
Despite this emotion, it feels like this album harnesses the power of the dancefloor. Would you say that?
Yeah, I mean, with a name like Body Language, I wanted it to have that. But it was also a bit of a struggle for me, because my last album was more deep, more emotional. So this was quite a journey in how it turned out. It’s quite experimental; I wasn’t sure if people would get it, but the feedback has been amazing. People have their favourite tracks. It’s been really good.
The album is a mix of remixes and original material. How did you reach your trademark sound with something like this, with so many different influences?
I mean, I keep questioning myself. It’s the soul. I try to find that every time, to reach that emotional depth. I think that’s a trademark. I started digging into the Get Physical catalogue and just kind of combined it with the sound of the original stuff I was making.
And with tracks like [iconic anthem] Body Language, I had a clear vision. It’s a track that people know. It has such a famous hook and bassline. There are a tonne of good remixes out there. Some people said, don’t do this because it’s such a classic, but I was like, OK – challenge accepted.
So the vision was clear: expanding the hook with chords on top of it to make it quite emotional and see how it turns out. And I think it turned out well. But I was afraid for a bit to send it to M.A.N.D.Y and Booka Shade. My management already sent it to them, and they really liked it. It was beyond my expectations.
Aside from classic reworks, original tracks on the album include samples from reggae and dancehall legend Barrington Levy on Be Strong. Tell me a bit about your music background.
I grew up with hip-hop and listened to a lot of dancehall in my childhood. It’s always been in my blood. I started producing hip-hop beats. I recorded all my friends and made a rap album at first. And then I stepped into the dance world when I started listening to artists like Olav Basoski and stuff like that.
Big house and trance legends in Holland grabbed my attention. And then I started playing vinyl on my uncle’s turntables – he had a drive-in discotheque – and playing at local football events.
On the subject of house music, we segue into its influence on tracks like Mambo, a shared favourite from the album. With essences of 90s chord progression, it has the sort of dancefloor grit that makes you want to clench fists into the air. The euphoric build-up of Fomo concludes the album and has been featuring at many of Helsloot’s live shows for the last couple of years, creating a perfect, hopeful encore.
That left us on a good note to discuss the next chapter. After some much-needed rest over the Christmas period, peppered with gigs, and a remix of Sander Kleinenberg’s My Lexicon cooling out post Body Language Vol. 27, Helsloot is going on tour with Tinlicker next year. Starting from 3 March in Berlin, the 2026, 15-date tour will feature Dublin, London, Paris, and Stockholm, amongst many other cities. Suffice to say, we will be seeing a lot more of Helsloot.
Words by Rosie Riot. Listen to Body Language Vol. 27 here.
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