Dressed Like Boys

Dressed Like Boys is Jelle Denturck stepping out from Belgian indie outfit DIRK. to show the side that rarely surfaces in the band. Where DIRK. leans loud, this solo alias turns the volume down for confessional songs shaped by a love of 70s-tinged indie pop and rock. Denturck writes as self-examination, not ego trip: personal freedom, close friends, his homosexuality and relationship, and the uncomfortable reality of gay bashing all find their place, handled with a calm honesty that keeps the focus on the songwriting.

The sound bears the stamp of his record shelf: Bowie and the Beatles, Lou Reed, Elton John, Nina Simone, Anohni & The Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens, Perfume Genius, Wilco, Tobias Jesso Jr. Warm tape textures, real strings, Wurlitzer and Rhodes, biscuit-tin drums, and a reunion with the first instrument he learned, the grand piano, light up arrangements that feel intimate without veering into excess.

On September 15, 2026 at Dabadaba in Donostia / San Sebastián, Dressed Like Boys brings these songs to life. A set built on detail and clarity, a voice that accepts its fragility, and melodies that draw you in rather than push—this is Denturck inviting you closer to the core of his music.