Dutch-born Chantal Acda (1978) has been making music under the name Sleepingdog since 2006. Between 2006 and 2011, she released three albums under this moniker, culminating in ‘With Our Heads in the Clouds and Our Hearts in the Fields’. For that album, she collaborated with Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid, A Winged Victory For The Sullen), with whom she toured the UK and the Benelux in 2011, alongside the band Low.

Chantal Acda has recorded and performed with artists such as Bill Frisell, Nils Frahm, and members of Low, Múm, and Efterklang. Currently, she is also a member of the bands Distance, Light & Sky (with Chris Eckman of The Walkabouts and Eric Thielemans) and Isbells.

Fans of PJ Harvey, Cat Power, and Blonde Redhead will definitely be able to connect with what Chantal is manifesting and her genre expansive alternative rock sound. The new album, dubbed ‘The Whale’, was produced by Chris Eckman (of The Walkabouts) and will be released on September 19 by Starman Records.

Her impressive and eclectic catalog includes numerous band projects, collaborations, and solo albums. The 2024 album Silently Held, recorded with The Atlantic Drifters, is nominated in 2025 for an Edison Award in the Netherlands. Her upcoming album, The Whale, will be released on September 19, 2025, followed by an extensive European tour. The songs were co-written with band members Eric Thielemans, Alan Gevaert, Gaëtan Vandewoude, and Niels Van Heertum.

The sound of The Whale is rougher and more rock-oriented than her previous projects, but her signature introspection and vulnerability remain at the core of the music. Singles “Heads” and “Make It Work” have received airplay in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany.