Fragile
voices,
big
orchestra
Faira
Faira is the experimental folk project of Sophia Spies. The songs of the 32-year-old singer, guitarist and songwriter from Cologne are quiet yet powerful. Faira’s pieces break out of classical song structures again and again, challenging the usual listening experience. The lyrics of the half-Japanese artist deal with family, vulnerability and hope. With a voice that is at times soft and fragile, at times dark and evocative, she finds her way out of the heaviness of human existence with enchanting ease. Her intriguingly complex, highly melodic songs radiate a musical audacity and are at the same time incredibly touching because they are so unflinchingly close to life. Faira has undoubtedly added undreamt-of colours and facets to the folk genre. Sophia Spies is currently working on a new album, which will be divided into three EPs and released successively between June 2024 and January 2025 on Cologne-based indie label Papercup Records. At asphalt she will perform as a duo with singer and guitarist Johanna Klein.
Sophia Spies: vocals, guitar
Johanna Klein aka Liv Alma: vocals, electric guitar
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Annie Bloch’s I DEPEND
Annie Bloch writes orchestral yet delicate compositions for the large line-up of her project I DEPEND – ten musicians, including strings and wind instruments. The voice of the singer-songwriter from Cologne easily soars to great heights and bears comparison with Priscilla Ahn and the young Fiona Apple. Acoustic instruments become a breeding ground for her songs, appearing rhythmically fanned out, sometimes melodically leading, sometimes only recognisable as puzzle pieces in the larger sound picture. The title of the project speaks to this interweaving: I DEPEND deals with the individual within the social fabric and focuses on the interdependence of the individual instruments and vocals in the music. Yet each musician is visible in the floating soundscapes. The transparency of the sound reflects the level of the lyrics: Annie Bloch looks closely and reveals what is buried.
This music lives in the tension between control and letting go, the diffuse in-between, where clear artistic ideas meet a natural curiosity and a basic trust in the collaborative process. Annie Bloch’s sound is characterised by an enthusiasm for the imperfect, the raw, the direct, and an openness to the fact that a song can always sound different. In her artful urban folk songs, Annie Bloch combines raw yet warm instrumentation with personal, intimate and poetic lyrics that tell of the impossible reconciliation of inside and outside. Annie Bloch has released two albums to date: “Floors” (2019) and “When You Get Here” (2021).
Akiko Ahrendt: violin
Annie Bloch: electric guitar/vocals
Sam Clague: clarinet
Jan Philipp: drums
Dario Rosenberger: horn
Carlo Tiedge: electric guitar
Malte Viebahn: double bass
Luis Weiß: flugelhorn
Moritz Wesp: trombone
Emily Wittbrodt: cello
anniebloch.com
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Funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
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What the press says about Faira:
“Faira knows how to combine intimacy and virtuosity. You really have to juggle with big names to set the scene: Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush or Joanna Newson – all musicians for whom folk songs do not become navel-gazing, but rather abstract works of art”. (Stadtrevue)
“What Faira does is not folk music in the conventional sense. The studied fashion designer constructs her complex and harmonically demanding songs more in the sense of an indie artist than of a classic songwriter. In doing so, she manages to create remarkably adventurous and daring compositions, which really impress with their captivating melodies and extremely unusual chord sequences”. (gaesteliste.de)
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What the press says about Annie Bloch’s I DEPEND:
“Annie Bloch’s compositions are like clouds. They constantly change shape and seem as if they could sound completely different at any moment. As a listener, I have the feeling that I could reach through them, the music seems so weightless and floating”. (Sophie Emilie Beha, Deutschlandfunk)
“Musical gems that seem so spontaneous, as if they were created in the moment of performance” (Neue Westfälische Zeitung)
“Annie Bloch skilfully packs personal lyrics full of intimacy and poetry into slowly unfolding songs that emphasise the indie in indie folk and reflect her broad musical background without losing focus. (westzeit.de)
