“I preserve to the innocence of the sound, and it doesn’t cease coming ’trigger I kick it alive…”
ionnalee is again.
In the event you’ve been a protracted, lengthy time OG reader of MuuMuse, you already know her effectively, and might be part of me in fondly reminiscing concerning the less complicated days of weblog world.
For individuals who weren’t alongside for the journey initially, the singer first led us down the iamamiwhoami conspiracy wormhole as one of many first actual “Web thriller act” campaigns in 2009 with cryptic, tree-licking movies and unusual coded messages alongside intriguingly odd, digital productions. Stan sleuths scrambled to place collectively the clues on pop boards and remark sections to find out the identification of this unusual, long-lashed forest nymph, touchdown on everybody from Christina Aguilera for the Bionic marketing campaign (I want, nonetheless!) to The Knife‘s Karin Dreijer to Alison Goldfrapp.
And in any case that, her identification was ultimately revealed to be none apart from a model new expertise on the scene who’d efficiently tricked us all right into a panic: Swedish singer Jonna Lee.
Years after initially launching the audiovisual undertaking, ionnalee has since pioneered a really spectacular unbiased profession, placing out a string of information as each iamamiwhoami and ionnalee, touring all over the world, collaborating with acts like Imogen Heap and Röyksopp, and delivering astounding digital concert events – and, extra lately, a child boy. And now, practically two years after 2022’s Be Right here Quickly, she’s again with a model new report.
On Thursday (March 21), she formally introduced her third album below the ionnalee moniker, Shut Your Eyes, co-crafted with longtime collaborator Claes Björklund, and due out on June 21. (And to accompany the discharge, she’s additionally releasing the dual Swedish language accompanying model, Blund.)
Forward of the report, which she describes as a sequel to iamamiwhoami’s gorgeous 2014 album BLUE, she’s supplied us with the primary style of the undertaking in “innocence of sound.”
”It’s about how you can dream in a darkish time and how you can be somebody like me, an artist who feeds off of that capacity for a dwelling,” she defined of the music’s which means in a notice posted on social media.
“ get to a state of hopefulness, euphoria, sorrow in a time the place the world appears much less and fewer linked to different people, to nature and to our future. I wanted to make this album proper now. How I discover music, when produced from the center, nonetheless after working as an artist for 20 years, is a core aspect in my life. How crooked the view of music’s worth is now regardless that it’s soundtracking our every day lives and might get us by the hardest of occasions.”
The synth-y manufacturing definitely does channel the piercingly icy, contemporary sip-of-glacier water sound of BLUE, in addition to a contact of Depeche Mode and Röyksopp.
The useful message about discovering refuge in inventive achievement couldn’t be extra wanted proper now, particularly for the numb, depressive, anxious and existential crisis-prone, who could very badly want this mild, attractive anthemic reminder to channel these feelings into some kind of self-expression and briefly shut out the seemingly infinite barrage of horrors of the world. (Responsible as charged.)
“Lay it down, let it soar, let it havе a lifetime of its personal…”
She additionally supplied perception into the making of Shut Your Eyes.
“The album was made by 2023 which was a heavy yr personally. Those that I like are struggling, life has been actually critical midst exhausting work and little relaxation, I spent a number of time alone with my baby during times, so all awake vacant hours in the course of the nights grew to become a time for writing and recording as my child has been sleeping. I’ve wanted to get again to feeling regardless of the unimaginable feeling I get when music is enjoyable to make and hearken to. And I did. Because of my neighborhood I used to be in a position to preserve creating my worlds undisturbed.”
As for the Swedish report, she says: “I lately moved out of Stockholm again to the realm the place I grew up in Östergötland. I’ve begun changing this outdated farmhouse right into a studio. Singing in my mom tongue offers my artistry a distinct angle and that feels actually thrilling – it’s like exploring a brand new language!”
And Jonna Lee reveals no indicators of slowing down: together with the music and album announcement, she additionally simply revealed tour dates for a 2024 U.S. tour, which you’ll try inside, and put together to dive again into the BLUE.
ionnalee 2024 U.S. Tour Dates:
17 Might – Philadelphia, Underground Arts
18 Might – Brooklyn, Warsaw
22 Might – Chicago, Subterranean
26 Might – Denver, Oriental Theatre
29 Might – Phoenix, Nile Theater
1 Jun – Los Angeles, Belasco
2 Jun – San Diego, Voodoo Room
4 Jun – San Francisco, Nice American Music Corridor
6 Jun – Seattle, The Crocodile
7 Jun – Portland, Marvel Ballroom
28 Sep – Stockholm, Fotografiska (360° audio visible expertise)
29 Sep – Stockholm, Fotografiska (360° audio visible expertise)
Purchase iamamiwhoami and ionnalee albums on vinyl right here.
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Photograph credit score: John Strandh
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