Folk singer-songwriter’s voice will give you goosebumps.

Gone are the days when gravelly voices paved the way for folk to dominate the musical world. Everybody seems to have gotten a little bit bored of the boring generic sounds of that whole scene and, now, a new generation of folk-inspired artists are finding their feet with ethereal voices. Jake Houlsby is not only the latest of these, but one that embodies the essence of contemporary folk itself — from melancholic deliveries to artiste expressions.

Taking latest single Vondelpark at name value alone, it’s reasonably clear that Houlsby represents a much artier side of the genre than we’ve seen emerging in recent years. After all, a lesser artist would have likely just gone straight for less cultural parts of Amsterdam to form the basis of a song. Better yet, the track itself  doesn’t disappoint, with gently echoing guitars pairing up with poetic lyricism and tender vocals to deliver an experience deserving pride of place in the folk scene. With Houlsby’s hauntingly reverberated vocal fluttering on the surface of the sound, there is very little that ties this song musically to the rest of the modern folk genre. Interestingly though, it could be just this that makes him the scene’s only hope of revival.