Clean Up

In March 2002 DeLange and her partner Bart Vergoossen went to America for 9 months to work on a new album. During the recording sessions DeLange took a greater creative role in her music, including receiving song-writing credit for the entire album. In April 2003 she released Clean Up, her third studio album. This album continued with the pop/rock sound she experimented with on Livin' on Love. Her songwriting on Clean Up was autobiographical. Ilse was satisfied with the results and despite the new sound, the album became a big success.
During this time DeLange donated a contribution to the charity foundation War Child. Together with Trijntje Oosterhuis and Jacqueline Govaert she performed "Because" during a "Friends of Warchild" concert. In October Ilse released a compilation album called: Here I Am - 1998/2003. The album went Platinum and contained DeLange's best work in a single release.