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Rating: Leveraging hype to create a new vision of art, manipulating viral marketing while keeping one's identity a mystery, performing concerts without an audience in a forest or a snowy field. This is iamamiwhoami, which is essentially a side project of folk singer Jonna Lee, who abandons the sweetness and calm of her previous musical path to delve into a true and unique vision. Her work combines music and video, balancing sighs, glances, illusions, disillusions, and moments.
The music itself seems almost indefinable: songs with letters as titles, perfectly blending the pain and refinement of certain folk music with the alluring and enveloping Scandinavian electronic style (listen to the wonderful "B", for instance, the opening track that immediately draws the listener into an oblivion of cold and sudden explosions, a piece built on a continuous escalation of sighs before becoming the grotesque prayer of a hopeless electronic muse). The influences are plentiful, from Moloko to Knife, with moments that even recall some Swedish '70s ABBA-style dance music (The concluding "Y", which alternates moments where Jonna seems to embody a much weirder Roísín Murphy, with others dangerously touching the dancefloor territory), yet she encapsulates the epitome of charm (art, music, video installation, creativity, style, talent) managing to remain always fresh and original.
Not to mention an absolutely perfect piece like "N", where a menacing synth chases geometric patterns of rhythms and music box plays that fade into the air as soon as a voice, never so enchanting and mesmerizing, enters; it is a timeless spell, encapsulating in five minutes the complete vision of the ancient/modern fusion. It unfolds like a rosebud and is inescapable. It is love.
"U-1" might, on the contrary, seem unnecessary, given its nature as an "Intermezzo": a two-minute lullaby leading to the album's meanest track, "U-2", Yet even in the pure futility of its composition, it becomes incredibly fascinating and is worth listening to more than once. "U-2", on the other hand, is the atypical explosion of sound. To a decidedly techno walking pace, the artist literally lets herself go between the wildest rhythmic explosions and calmer moments, creating a decidedly "avant-garde" song, yet paradoxically, it could also work on the dance floor.
"T" returns to experimental dance territory, never falling into the "kitsch" chasm. With class and mastery, another piece is crafted: magnificent, fascinating, and bold, yet incredibly catchy. And it's impossible not to mention the gorgeous "O", a slow and sepulchral chase of electronic beats that, for once, highlights the voice of this impressive new discovery.
In conclusion, a truly remarkable album, best enjoyed with the seven videos accompanying the seven tracks of the album. Each one more beautiful than the last.
Stay tuned.
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