VAN RAVEN Builds the Tension on New Single ‘Like a Secret’

Some feelings exist long before anybody is brave enough to say them aloud. On her new single, ‘Like a Secret’, VAN RAVEN explores that charged space between attraction and action, where every look seems to carry a hidden meaning.

VAN RAVEN is the solo project of Denise van den Berg, a Dutch musician, singer-songwriter and producer now based in Tasmania. Her music sits between alternative rock and grunge pop, with influences that will appeal to listeners of The Cranberries, Garbage, Meg Myers and Hole.

Although van den Berg only wrote her first song in November 2024, music has quickly become an important creative outlet. She completed a Certificate IV in Music in 2025 and began independently releasing material written, recorded and produced by herself. She also creates her own music videos, allowing each release to become a fuller reflection of her ideas.

For van den Berg, creating music is closely connected to processing emotions that might otherwise remain buried. VAN RAVEN offers an external projection of her inner world, turning thoughts and feelings into something that can be heard, seen and shared. Her songs explore love, lust, identity and what it means to be human, often placing spiritual or metaphysical ideas beneath more personal stories.

‘Like a Secret’ centres on two people who are strongly attracted to one another but have not yet acted on it. The lyrics capture both the physical chemistry and emotional pull between them, giving the song an intimate sense of anticipation. Underneath that immediate story is a deeper idea about love as a spiritual experience, and the possibility of recognising something divine in another person.

The music reflects that growing tension. Heavy, driving guitar riffs support van den Berg’s low and intimate vocal delivery before the track opens into a larger, more melodic chorus. Rather than revealing everything at once, the arrangement continues to build, eventually reaching its heaviest and most explosive moment during the bridge.

That gradual rise gives ‘Like a Secret’ its pull. The restrained verses feel close and personal, while the bigger sections allow those hidden emotions to break through. It captures the point where attraction becomes difficult to ignore, even if neither person has made the first move.

VAN RAVEN has already begun attracting radio support beyond Tasmania. Her second single, ‘Where Did All the Humans Go?’, received airplay on Hobart’s Edge Radio 99.3FM, Huon & Kingston FM 95.3 and Launceston’s City Park Radio FM. ‘Like a Secret’ has since travelled further, gaining plays from stations in Australia, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.

In the studio and on stage, van den Berg is supported by musician Matthew Osborne, who is known for playing bass and providing vocals in Distillery, The Far Cues and Chiseld.

‘Like a Secret’ also begins the release cycle for VAN RAVEN’s forthcoming debut album, SECRETS. It introduces the project with a strong mix of intimacy, distorted guitars and unresolved desire, while showing how naturally van den Berg’s personal and spiritual ideas can sit within a grunge-pop track.

With its simmering verses, melodic chorus and explosive final build, ‘Like a Secret’ turns unspoken attraction into something loud, physical and impossible to keep hidden.