After years of writing songs that dwell in the in-between—light and darkness, solitude and connection—Dutch artist David & The Circumstances returns with “Sunrise,” released on May 31, 2025. It’s a quietly powerful single that feels like an exhale after years of holding your breath. Drawing from a period of deep personal transformation, David (real name David Groeneweg) has crafted a meditative yet uplifting song that reflects his journey back to clarity and gratitude.
We sat down with David to talk about the inspirations behind Sunrise, his creative process, and the emotional threads tying his upcoming album together. From travels along California’s sun-drenched coast to misty Norwegian mountain roads, his music maps landscapes both inner and outer, always with a sense of wonder and emotional honesty.
Interview with David and The Circumstances
David: I went through what felt like a ‘dark night of the soul’ a few years ago. I got caught in a tough spiral of insomnia and anxiety, and it took a while to find my way out of that. With the support of my loving partner, friends, family, and therapy, I slowly gained my footing again. Through that process, it felt like I was learning to see the world—and my own life—in a slightly different, more appreciative way. That’s when I first started working on this song. It’s about the realization that, even when it isn’t fully visible yet, there’s something deep inside you that knows the light is on its way back.
David: On a trip through California, my partner and I were once driving along PCH at what they call ‘Golden Hour’. The beauty of the coastline and the light reflecting on the water was so stunning that all of a sudden I was overwhelmed with emotion. It was sunset, but I was always thinking of this experience when I was writing the lyrics for Sunrise, because it was a healing moment for me.
David: We got the idea to film the music video during our trip through Norway because the song describes a range of different natural backdrops and changing landscapes. One verse describes driving along the ocean, and so the Atlantic Ocean Road provided the perfect visual setting for that – it’s considered one of the most beautiful ocean drives in the world. The winding roads up Trollstigen had the misty morning feel we wanted to capture in this video, and the drive up that mountain also relates to the feeling of gradually ascending to a place from where you can finally see the sun again.
David: Since an early age I’ve felt drawn to exploring the deeper questions and mysteries of life. In high school I was really into physics and I got obsessed with the mysterious nature of consciousness after reading Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power Of Now” as a teenager. Before I eventually went to music college, I first studied philosophy at university, and over the years I engaged with many spiritual practices and teachers. In a way I was always exploring those same themes and questions. So that drive to explore the human condition and the potential of spiritual transformation has always been with me, and writing songs is my way of expressing that.
David: When I first went to New York I played many open mics throughout the city, which was very helpful for me because I felt people genuinely appreciated my lyrics. This was also part of the reason I later moved to London and lived there for 3 years. I played a lot of shows there, and there’s a very strong music culture and an appreciative audience in the UK—so it was a great place to enrich my craft as a singer-songwriter. I was teaching music and performing all the time, which was really rewarding, but it’s also a very expensive city to live in. Eventually I moved back to the Netherlands, which made it a little easier for me to work on recordings again, because I have my studio space, instruments and equipment here.
David: I think the overarching theme of the album is how love eventually overcomes adversity.
I never consciously thought about it when writing the songs, but it seems to be a common thread between the songs on the album.
As one example, there is another song on the album about a girl from Pakistan who is shot and left for dead by her own father because she marries against his will, but she miraculously survives. They made a documentary about her story, which eventually convinced the prime minister of Pakistan to close the loophole in the law that allowed these honour killings to go unpunished. “Sunrise” is of a much lighter tone and narrative, but it speaks to the same hope for healing and overcoming suffering.
David: It depends on the song. I write most of my songs on either guitar or piano, so I will record that along with the vocal first and then I’ll experiment a lot with adding different sounds or instruments. I like combining the brighter tone of steel string guitars and the rounder, warmer sound of classical guitars a lot, so I write parts on those guitars that complement each other. I also love recording a lot of subtle notes or fingerpicking on my electric guitar as an additional layer—nowadays I often plug it into my computer directly so I can add effects or an amp simulator later.
I usually just start improvising first, and then record and edit parts together. Sometimes I record a lot of extra layers, but only keep some small parts – I only keep things that really serve the meaning of the song, and sometimes that means I have to keep the arrangement very minimal.
For strings, I usually sketch out a score using sample libraries on my keyboard, and then later record it with a real violinist or cellist.
Sometimes I compose a song as I’m recording—for example, I’ll come up with a drumbeat, then add a bass or guitar part, and the whole song evolves from there.
David: During that period, I was actually always working on new songs—it just took me a long time before I felt ready to release another album. My guitar and piano playing evolved, and living abroad—as well as meeting my partner, who’s from the US—enriched my use of English. I also got better at recording, since I spent a lot of that period composing and producing music for other people. So I learned quite a bit about music production and recording techniques, microphones, etc., which in turn influenced my own recording process.
David: I think visuals or a music video can add another layer of depth and intention to a song. If done well, it can help to draw people’s attention to the words and meaning. Tanya, as a visual artist and filmmaker, is very good at coming up with visual ideas for my songs, and I love working together on those videos and designs with her. Sometimes, while we’re editing a video, I feel like we’ve become slightly telepathic—she’ll say, ‘maybe we can try this,’ and it’s exactly what I was just thinking.
David: Yes, I’m planning to release most of the songs as singles before I release the entire album. I want to release the next one in July, the song is called “In God We Trust”—a quiet but emotionally intense song about the war in the Middle East.
I hope the album feels like a journey through different aspects of what it means to be human and leaves listeners with a feeling of redemption and renewed appreciation for life.
From finding peace on winding mountain roads to crafting introspective soundscapes that explore the full spectrum of human emotion, David & The Circumstances invites us to listen deeply—not just to his songs, but to our own lives. With Sunrise already lighting the way and more singles on the horizon, David’s quiet revolution through music continues—thoughtful, honest, and quietly transcendent.
