If the Brabant singer and poet Alex Roeka had not led a rough life, his songs would not have been as profound as they are now. In his wandering life over land and sea he got to know himself and the fringes of life well; with alcohol, drugs and whores. At one point, Roeka started to write autobiographical songs about what life did to him. Performing these songs in front of an audience gave him the
… recognition and affection that the former boarding school boy had always craved. In 2009 Roeka received an Edison in the Cabaret category for his seventh album Beet Van Liefde. Roeka's sixth album Mannenwoestijn was previously part of the collection of the same name with collected lyrics up to and including 2007. Now the CD is also available separately. In melancholy, poetic and sensual wording, Roeka sings with his light husky voice about his mother's passing, drink, women's bodies, the beautiful cyclist song De Rode Vod and the eighteen minutes long gray life of hell in Hades Bar. (SvdP)more