"The deeper the suffering carves into your being, the more joy you can grasp," says Khalil Gibran. The music on "Convergence," the sensual, pain-filled album that singer and songwriter Malia recorded with Boris Blank from Yello over the course of three years, makes this realization tangible. The eleven songs of this intense and inspired production, whose title translates best to "Approach" in German, deal with life and survival. They are anthems full of tragic moments and dramatic insights, telling stories of ghosts, prostitution, slavery, illness, spirituality, and of course, love. They are as light as they are profound, as wise as they are simple, and often even both at the same time.
Malia speaks openly about the events and emotions that inspired her new album. "When I started working with Boris, I had just received the diagnosis of breast cancer. Since then, I have undergone constant and repeated treatments. Both breasts were amputated. However, the worst part was the thought of not being there for my now six-year-old daughter. She gave me a lot of strength and, in a way, left me no choice: she needed me, so I couldn't possibly die. Music has always given me strength, so after the diagnosis, I threw myself even more into my music – and even recorded 'Black Orchid' in the midst of my collaboration with Boris." Malia's highly praised label debut "Black Orchid" from 2012 – for which she received the Echo Jazz 2013 Award – was dedicated to the work of Nina Simone.
Malia met musician and producer Boris Blank in 2010 through an acquaintance. She wanted to stretch her feelers towards the "electro scene," as she calls it. The "Zurich sound fanatic and studio tinkerer" (Der Spiegel), who had already worked with Shirley Bassey and Billie McKenzie during the success story of Yello, recognized in the singer's distinctive voice and charisma a wonderful complement to his clear sound colors. "I have to feel something in my marrow and bones to hear it with my heart," says the singer, repeatedly praising this intuitive and very direct collaboration. "Boris' music made it easy for me to embark on a musical, lyrical, and melodic journey. His production caresses me with sound, he creates moods, guides me like a director would in a film, and gives me a sense of security and expansiveness. Our collaboration was very direct. If something didn't come naturally, we didn't force it – and moved on to the next."
The music on "Convergence" is unmistakably electronic, while the voice is organic. "Maybe it's soul, in the sense that this music comes from the soul," says Malia. "For me, the roots of these pieces go even further back, to gospel and blues – they are as direct as they are honest." Above all, there is a lot of spirituality in this music and a "deep reverence for life and humanity," as Malia expresses it. She recognizes some songs as "non-religious sermons," even more so as "journeys," which can only be temporarily translated as "travels."
Already in the opener "Celestial Echo," dark drums and cutting synth sounds contrast with warm surfaces and this incomparably raw voice. "I’ll hold your hand, your love, and your secrets near/ I’ll dry your eyes, those tears, I’m the mad storyteller," sings Malia, simultaneously setting the intimacy and narrative layers of the album. Often, these stories revolve around hope and sensuality, such as in "Claire Cadillac," an ode to a transgender "escort girl" that Malia met years ago in her hometown. "I found her hypnotizing, glorious, alive," Malia recounts. "Once when I visited her, a client rang the bell. I was almost panicking and didn't know where to flee. She just said: 'Stop being such a baby. I'll be right back.' Ten minutes later, she laid seven large bills on the table and said: 'And it's all tax-free.' "Unbeatable, right?" Sometimes Malia's lyrics are associative and poetic, such as in the spoken-word piece "Smouldering Ashes" or in "Embraceable Moon," a love song that only a mother can sing. "I can only sing soothingly," Malia says, especially in contrast to many colleagues who often seem hyperactive. "I probably sing too many lullabies. But I love singing lullabies; they soothe you..." At other times, the ideas are conveyed very directly, such as in the passionate "Magnetic Lies," the energetically electronic rhythm and blues groove of "I Feel It Like You," or in her phenomenal version of "Fever," the only cover on the album. In "Turner’s Ship," a painting by JMW Turner titled "The Slave Ship" inspired the tragedy and greed of the slave trade. The thought that this painter denounced the cruelty and falsehood of slavery as early as the mid-19th century and therefore created this "incomprehensible painting" moved Malia. "However," Malia explains, "I had written a poem on this topic, and when I heard this composition by Boris, the words just fell into place. It is thanks to Boris' music that this song came to be."
"Convergence" is filled to the brim with snapshots that seem made for eternity. As modern as it is timeless, this electronic soul music has the potential to make one profoundly happy. "I dive into this music like into a dance," Malia explains. "If you worry too much or think too much while dancing, you become stiff – and it won't be a good dance. Just being here, living today and in the moment – that means everything to me."
www.malia-music.de
Tour dates 2014:
02/20/14, D, Cologne - Stadtgarten
02/21/14, D, Hamburg - Mojo
02/22/14, CH, Geneva - Chapiteau Post Finance
02/23/14, D, Berlin - A-Trane
02/24/14, D, Munich - Ampere
02/25/14, D, Frankfurt - Brotfabrik
02/27/14, CH, Zurich - Kaufleuten
Tracklist:
1. Celestial Echo / 2. Embraceable Moon / 3. I Feel It Like You / 4. Touching Ghosts / 5. Claire Cadillac / 6. Raising Venus / 7. Fever / 8. Smouldering Ashes / 9. Magnetic Lies / 10. Tears Run Dry / 11. Turner's Ship
* * *
Malia & Boris Blank - Convergence (Album trailer)
http://youtu.be/ewMZ-SIuHy8
Malia speaks openly about the events and emotions that inspired her new album. "When I started working with Boris, I had just received the diagnosis of breast cancer. Since then, I have undergone constant and repeated treatments. Both breasts were amputated. However, the worst part was the thought of not being there for my now six-year-old daughter. She gave me a lot of strength and, in a way, left me no choice: she needed me, so I couldn't possibly die. Music has always given me strength, so after the diagnosis, I threw myself even more into my music – and even recorded 'Black Orchid' in the midst of my collaboration with Boris." Malia's highly praised label debut "Black Orchid" from 2012 – for which she received the Echo Jazz 2013 Award – was dedicated to the work of Nina Simone.
Malia met musician and producer Boris Blank in 2010 through an acquaintance. She wanted to stretch her feelers towards the "electro scene," as she calls it. The "Zurich sound fanatic and studio tinkerer" (Der Spiegel), who had already worked with Shirley Bassey and Billie McKenzie during the success story of Yello, recognized in the singer's distinctive voice and charisma a wonderful complement to his clear sound colors. "I have to feel something in my marrow and bones to hear it with my heart," says the singer, repeatedly praising this intuitive and very direct collaboration. "Boris' music made it easy for me to embark on a musical, lyrical, and melodic journey. His production caresses me with sound, he creates moods, guides me like a director would in a film, and gives me a sense of security and expansiveness. Our collaboration was very direct. If something didn't come naturally, we didn't force it – and moved on to the next."
The music on "Convergence" is unmistakably electronic, while the voice is organic. "Maybe it's soul, in the sense that this music comes from the soul," says Malia. "For me, the roots of these pieces go even further back, to gospel and blues – they are as direct as they are honest." Above all, there is a lot of spirituality in this music and a "deep reverence for life and humanity," as Malia expresses it. She recognizes some songs as "non-religious sermons," even more so as "journeys," which can only be temporarily translated as "travels."
Already in the opener "Celestial Echo," dark drums and cutting synth sounds contrast with warm surfaces and this incomparably raw voice. "I’ll hold your hand, your love, and your secrets near/ I’ll dry your eyes, those tears, I’m the mad storyteller," sings Malia, simultaneously setting the intimacy and narrative layers of the album. Often, these stories revolve around hope and sensuality, such as in "Claire Cadillac," an ode to a transgender "escort girl" that Malia met years ago in her hometown. "I found her hypnotizing, glorious, alive," Malia recounts. "Once when I visited her, a client rang the bell. I was almost panicking and didn't know where to flee. She just said: 'Stop being such a baby. I'll be right back.' Ten minutes later, she laid seven large bills on the table and said: 'And it's all tax-free.' "Unbeatable, right?" Sometimes Malia's lyrics are associative and poetic, such as in the spoken-word piece "Smouldering Ashes" or in "Embraceable Moon," a love song that only a mother can sing. "I can only sing soothingly," Malia says, especially in contrast to many colleagues who often seem hyperactive. "I probably sing too many lullabies. But I love singing lullabies; they soothe you..." At other times, the ideas are conveyed very directly, such as in the passionate "Magnetic Lies," the energetically electronic rhythm and blues groove of "I Feel It Like You," or in her phenomenal version of "Fever," the only cover on the album. In "Turner’s Ship," a painting by JMW Turner titled "The Slave Ship" inspired the tragedy and greed of the slave trade. The thought that this painter denounced the cruelty and falsehood of slavery as early as the mid-19th century and therefore created this "incomprehensible painting" moved Malia. "However," Malia explains, "I had written a poem on this topic, and when I heard this composition by Boris, the words just fell into place. It is thanks to Boris' music that this song came to be."
"Convergence" is filled to the brim with snapshots that seem made for eternity. As modern as it is timeless, this electronic soul music has the potential to make one profoundly happy. "I dive into this music like into a dance," Malia explains. "If you worry too much or think too much while dancing, you become stiff – and it won't be a good dance. Just being here, living today and in the moment – that means everything to me."
www.malia-music.de
Tour dates 2014:
02/20/14, D, Cologne - Stadtgarten
02/21/14, D, Hamburg - Mojo
02/22/14, CH, Geneva - Chapiteau Post Finance
02/23/14, D, Berlin - A-Trane
02/24/14, D, Munich - Ampere
02/25/14, D, Frankfurt - Brotfabrik
02/27/14, CH, Zurich - Kaufleuten
Tracklist:
1. Celestial Echo / 2. Embraceable Moon / 3. I Feel It Like You / 4. Touching Ghosts / 5. Claire Cadillac / 6. Raising Venus / 7. Fever / 8. Smouldering Ashes / 9. Magnetic Lies / 10. Tears Run Dry / 11. Turner's Ship
* * *
Malia & Boris Blank - Convergence (Album trailer)
http://youtu.be/ewMZ-SIuHy8
