Beatrise Heislere, more widely known from the semi-finals of the “Supernova 2022” song contest where she participated with the song “On the Way Home”, has released a new single “Dance ‘Cause You Need It”.
The author is musician and singer Edvards Grieze, the producer is a musician and member of “Eridana” – Roberts Pētersons. “Our successful collaboration simply had to continue. It’s amazing how from the first draft Robers finds details to highlight, giving the song a unique sound,” says Beatrise about the song’s creation process.
“The song is about inner struggles and self-reflection. Again the song and it’s meaning, actuality and everything around it is Edvards’ talent and creativity peak – the right song in the right time,” says singer about the song.
Genre that would describe “Dance ‘Cause You Need It” most accurate is Synthwave. This is a micro genre of electronic music that brings out the best of 80s nostalgia and pop culture era – the atmosphere, arts as cinema and music, and video games. Previous single “On the Way Home” purposefully was produced in this genre to popularize in Latvia.
“With this song I would like to reach out to every listener, saying that you don’t have to hide behind your dreams and goals but aim and get closer every day. Last year hasn’t been the easiest one, many will agree that with everything we’ve been through there are days when you want it all and days when you feel like doing nothing, but, more so – dance ’cause you want it, ’cause you need it now,” says Beatrise.
I MEAN LOVE (real name Raiens Šaubergs) is a multi-artist from Riga, words to describe him the best are authenticity, versatility and charisma.
On February 17th I MEAN LOVE will release his latest single “Savējo Sirdi”. The song was made in close cooperation with producer REFLX (real name Kristaps Hlevickis).
The main inspiration for the song and its lyrics are relationships. Relationships that force us to work with ourselves – to grow and develop as personalities. . And for us to be able to do this at all, we need to be clearly aware of where each of us is at this moment and where we want to go: “It’s not about a specific place, but about values, self-discipline, the goals we strive for and experiences we wish to enjoy in this journey we call life. Raien’s artistic expression is not limited to music alone, he marked the beginning of this year by presenting his clothing line “I MEAN LOVE apparel” to a wider audience.
The song is included in her debut mini-album “Aizturu elpu”. The song tells about infinite love that has no boundaries of time or space. The song was made in cooperation with producer Kaspars Ansons.
Latvia-based band LUNT has released ‘TheInner Border‘ (Iekšējā Robeža), a cerebral, stunning track filled with gravitas and hunger to stir emotions. The record was written in June 2020, using soundscapes as metaphors for the travel that led LUNT’s frontman Gilles Deles-Velins to Latvia.Anna Akhmatova’s poem, A land not mine, is read in Russian at the beginning of the track and in Latvian at the end.
You can listen to ‘The Inner Border’ on Soundcloud and pre-order via Bandcamp. It comes in Dolby 7.1 Channel original version.
Few artists match Deles’ ability to blend electronic and organic sources while securing a delicate balance between textural soundscapes and melodic structures. Thoughtfully arranged and bonded in a marvelous aesthetic, ‘TheInner Border‘ continues LUNT’s exploration of states of consciousness.
With ‘TheInner Border,’ LUNT explores electro-acoustic spaces to create an immersive sound that transcends notions of musical language, forms, ambient, electro, drone, and other categories in music. The record is not only about soundscapes but redolent meditations capable of disinterring a long-forgotten memory or inducing a nostalgic reverie, somehow gravitating toward themes that contemplate the meaning of life.
Fans of LUNT’s work will find ‘The Inner Border’ deeply rewarding, while new listeners will doubtfully find themselves motivated to reach back into his catalog for more.
Credits:
Stromboli Volcano Sound Take by Clovis Tisserand
Cover photo by Lionel Maraval
Anna Akhmatova reading by Inese Vēliņa.
Lyrics, sound takes, instruments, arrangements, mix, mastering: Gilles Deles-Velins
Saxophone: Jérôme Gilet
Asari vocal ensemble directed by Artūrs Oskars Mitrevics
Soprano: Laura Štoma
Altos: Māra Delesa-Vēlina, Agnese Osīte-Slava, Ilze Ārniece
Bass: Oskars Krūklis, Artūrs Oskars Mitrevics
Electronic music producer Mickeen (Miks Pinzulis) in collaboration with rapper Goča (Gatis Orniņš) releases the first album single from Mickeen’s upcoming debut album.
goča about the song: “The song is written about the metamorphosis of the personality, which is connected with a drastic change of values and looking through a completely new prism – the song was written at a point when the author has abandoned the previous values and looks into the new expanse that opens up in front of him. although it is not known what the path to follow, it is clear which one you should definitely not choose again”
Mickeen: ”Katrā dziesmā ko rakstu ielieku spēcīgas emocijas un tās nolasīt dodu māksliniekam ar ko sadarbojos. goča, manuprāt, to spēja ideāli interpretēt – neizmainot dziesmas noskaņu.”
Mickeen: ‘In every song I like to put strong emotions which then I give to other artists to interpret. goča, in my opinion, was able to interpret it perfectly – without changing the mood of the song”
The producer association YDJ has released a new song “Netālu no Esplanādes”, featuring musician Oskars Deigelis. The song was sung by Liene Greifāne. Two remixes have also been made for the song.
On 16 March, pianist Andrejs Osokins will launch his new concert programme “Osokins – to Liszt”, which will continue until the end of the year in various venues across Latvia. Alongside the concert programme, a new fundraising campaign for Ukraine has been announced.
The concert programme “Osokins – to Liszt” is a tribute to one of the most important piano composers and virtuosos of the 19th century – Franz Liszt – his creative work, personality, and life. Liszt – virtuoso, lover, philosopher, monk, priest, thinker, romantic and tragic hero – these are just some of the aspects of his personality that characterise the great composer’s complicated life of and permeate his music. Like Liszt’s life, which began in Hungary but took him to countless places in Europe, his work is interwoven by the theme of wandering, which is also one of the cornerstones of Andrejs Osokins concert programme. The pianist believes that the diversity of Liszt’s life resonates strongly with our times, when everything in the world is changing rapidly and everyone must be able to adapt to these changes.
The new concert programme will also feature Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnet No. 104 from the cycle “Years of Wandering”.
Currently, ten concerts of the “Osokins – to Liszt” concert programme have been announced:
16 March at the Daugavpils Unity House,
19 March at the Sēja Culture House,
1 April at the Mazmežotne Manor,
16 April at the Jelgava Culture House,
21 April at the Dobele Concert Hall ZINTA,
29 April at ZEIT in Līgatne,
10 May at the Lielvārde Culture House,
7 July at Veselava Manor,
14 October at Madona Culture House,
8 December at the Krustpils Culture House in Jēkabpils.
Tickets for the concerts are available at the “Biļešu paradīze” box office and online at www.bilesuparadize.lv and www.ekase.lv (concert in Loja).
In cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia and the charity fund Ziedot.lv, a new fundraising campaign initiated by Andrejs Osokins, “Strength Dose for Victory!”, has been launched, during which people are invited to donate for the purchase of universal meal kits, which will be delivered to Ukrainian soldiers at the front in cooperation with the Confederation of Ukrainian Societies “Viche”. Andrejs Osokins has launched the campaign in preparation for his new concert tour, because it is important for him as a musician not only to inspire the audience with excellent compositions and convey a message of peace, unity and hope, but also to encourage everyone to continue helping Ukraine.
“The brutal war in Ukraine is now a year old, which seems absolutely unbelievable. Our support gives Ukrainians not only much-needed resources to continue their fight against evil, but also inspiration and reassurance that they are not alone in this madness. That is why it is extremely important to continue helping Ukraine and its army, because it is this army that is the main force saving Europe and Latvia from the threats and darkness that Putin’s Russian troops are bringing to the whole world. Together we can bring the victory of light closer and thus the peaceful future of Latvia,” says Andrejs Osokins on why he continues to carry out various support actions for Ukraine.
In the campaign “Strength dose for Victory!”, funds are raised for meal kits, which include a complete meal, a bag of reagent that heats up in response to 50 ml of cold water and makes it possible to heat up this meal in frontline conditions without electricity or fire, as well as chocolate and muesli bars, a nut and raisin mix, a portion of oatmeal, bread, candy, tea, coffee, chocolate drink, antibacterial and plain napkins, and a spoon.
This campaign is a continuation of the “Hot Meals for Ukrainian Soldiers at the Front” campaign launched by Andrejs Osokins on Ziedot.lv last October, which is still ongoing and has already raised more than EUR 100 000, enabling 20 000 hot meal kits to be delivered to the front in Ukraine.
On February 25 of this year, the band “The Bad Tones” released three songs, or “tringles” with the name “i”. This is a precursor to three more such tracks that the group will release during 2023.
“Some time ago I started thinking about a concept where we try to encapsulate a time in which a song comes together. My theory is that working on something creative during winter or summer influences the result and what you get in the end is completely different, that’s why I suggested implementing this idea in an album format, respectively three songs in each season. Somehow it also resonated well with Alberts and Rūdolfs idea that it would be nice to release more singles, to work less on something big, which can be tiring and begins to restrict with too much freedom at the beginning and too much stress at the end.Without hiding behind any purist motives, we have already recorded a large part of the songs live last summer at the former festival “Zvērā” territory in the “prieka māja”, but the process in which we decide the direction of the particular song, we leave to the mood of each season.” tells one of the band members, Edvards.
The Bad Tones released an EP last year called “Back Together Forever” alongside all other albums of the group have been nominated for the “Zelta Mikrofons 2022” award.
The Bad Tones is a band inspired by nature and blues that was formed in 2012, but took the name “The Bad Tones” in 2017. It is represented by Edvards Broders (voice, guitar, keyboards), Rūdolfs Ozols (voice, guitar, keyboards), Alberts Levics (voice, bass guitar) and Kalvis Sležis-Zaļkalns (voice, drums). So far “The Bad Tones” have released an EP “Bad Tunes” (2018), studio album “Is It Good Enough?” (2019), the live album “Ezera Skaņas” (2020) and another EP “Back Together Forever” (2022).
