With a mass of new releases again on 22nd August we’re reintroducing the shorter, sharp review format. It’s not the best way to go about things but it’s either that or many get overlooked.
So here we go.
Maalika (Sweden) – Who was I? (single)
In this weird and wonderful world we live in it is often difficult to understand what is happening, who we are and what, if any, impact we have individually on the greater scheme of things.
In ‘Who was I’ Maalika is Rip Van Winkle, having awoken from 20 years of sleep, or so it would appear on the surface.
In fact ‘Who was I?’ is about self-awareness. Do we need each other to understand who we are? She argues that that’s actually the case sometimes. She’s slept through her life without understanding who she is. Until she wakes up, that is.
I’m reminded of Emmy the Great’s wonderful ‘A woman, a woman, a century of sleep’, which followed a similar path except that it was more oriented towards the concept of feminism, as the title suggests.
What I can’t quite make out here (frankly my ears are knackered from so many reviews, loudly through headphones) is whether the degree of self awareness she has found relates only to her own situation and the part she plays in society or if she is waking up to the turmoil prevalent in Sweden right now.
I don’t think it is the latter, that isn’t Maliika’s style, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide anyway. And while you are deciding you can indulge in the fabulous textures of her voice.
Find her on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaliikaArtist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maliikaartist/
Longing Louisa (Finland) – Waterphile (debut single and title track from future debut album)
Longing Louisa. What a great name. Just to go off-script for a moment it reminds me of the iconic British TV comedy series Benidorm about the exploits of usually drunken British holidaymakers in Europe’s largest resort city and of the character Callum who arrives for his first ever holiday and asks the shady Spanish hotel barman Mateo for find him a ‘looker’ to date.
Totally mishearing him, Mateo sets him up on a date for someone known locally as ‘Loca Lucy’, loca of course being Spanish for someone who is crazy. She weighs about 20 stone and introduces herself to Callum and his dinner party by downing a pint in five seconds and farting.
That got me interested in where the moniker ‘Longing Louisa’ comes from and what she is longing for.
Actually I still don’t know – perhaps she can share that with us – but sometimes it is better not to know anyway.
What I do know is that Reetta Hotti has been releasing music under her own name for the past few years – but Longing Louisa explores a different side to Reetta’s music.
She badgered Helsinki label Soliti to listen to some material under her own name and then came back later with this new project which label owner Nick Triani described as “mind blowing” and “very special songwriting”.
Then she came back again with an unmastered album, which has become ‘Waterphile’, which is “an ode to water” as she says, going on to explain that water is a “symbol” (actually of many things) and that the album is “The Mermaid’s Tale in reverse” (which I haven’t read so can’t really comment on).
It’s all a little mysterious like the song itself which has almost classical piano lines and production values that you would expect from Kate Bush while her voice could be that of Regina Spektor or more likely Sweden’s Elliphant when she’s balladering rather than rapping.
I said I was keeping this short so I’ll end there and conclude by saying that I hardly ever disagree with Nick Triani. If he has identified a genuinely talented songwriter good enough to sign he always gets it right and my instincts tell me this is yet another fine catch.
Longing Louisa’s ‘Waterphile’ album has a release date of 31st October 2025.
‘Waterphile’ single cover art is by Heli Lundstrom
Find Reeta Hotti on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064268282563
