Weval

From film to Kompakt

Weval are Harm Coolen and Merijn Scholte Albers, both with film and video backgrounds, based in Amsterdam; sources differ on how they met, whether at a 2010 film job, a 2011 music video shoot or a birthday party in a Utrecht cafe. They have named the soundtracks of Fight Club, Heat and The Social Network as inspirations. After the Half Age EP on Atomnation and a first live show at the Pitch festival in Amsterdam in 2013, they signed to Kompakt in 2014. Their remix of Gui Boratto's "Take Control" reached number one on the Beatport electronica chart, and "Detian" was used in a Schweppes advertisement with Penelope Cruz. Their first album, Weval, came out on June 10, 2016, recorded in a converted old school building, and Pitchfork reportedly gave it 8.0.

The Weight (March 2019, Kompakt) was nominated for a 3voor12 Award, and the duo moved to Ninja Tune's Technicolour with Changed for the Better (2021) and Remember (March 3, 2023, nominated for a 2024 Edison in dance). Chorophobia followed in September 2025 with a faster, club-oriented sound, and a 3voor12 Award nomination in December 2025. They have grown into a five-piece live band, played Lowlands, DGTL and Fuji Rock, and have had music in Good Girls, Industry and I May Destroy You. Setlist.fm lists 181 setlists, with the Netherlands, Germany and the US the top countries.