The Hobknobs bring together Yaël Dekker (The Klittens) and Arie van Vliet (Lewsberg) for a debut album built on restraint, intimacy and understated songwriting. With little more than voices, guitars and the occasional flourish, Helmets Off leaves plenty of space for its songs to breathe. Beneath its apparent simplicity lies a mix of humour, ambiguity and emotional weight. Dekker and van Vliet's voices work in perfect tandem, while producer Jaap van der Velde keeps the focus firmly on the songs. Echoes of The Velvet Underground surface in the album's sparse, conversational approach, but The Hobknobs sound entirely their own.