Novastar

Under the name Novastar, Joost Zweegers has been developing an English-language pop-rock project from Belgium, blending piano ballads, restrained guitars and melancholic melodies in a songwriting that draws on pop, folk and highly melodic alternative rock. Novastar took shape after winning Humo’s Rock Rally in 1996; the debut album Novastar, released in 2000, quickly established the name on the Belgian and Dutch scenes with songs like “Wrong”, “Caramia” and “The Best Is Yet to Come”. Novastar continued with Another Lonely Soul in 2004, partly written with Ozark Henry, and Almost Bangor in 2008, where the sound opened up into a broader band-oriented pop. After a recording hiatus, Joost Zweegers relaunched Novastar with Inside Outside in 2014, produced by John Leckie, followed by In the Cold Light of Monday (2018), Holler and Shout (2021) and The Best Is Yet to Come (2024). Depending on the period, Novastar presents itself either as a band or as Zweegers’ more direct vehicle, while keeping the same line: sensitive, clear pop-rock without excessive effects.