SURRIJA by Surrija
Written to portraits of Marie-Therese Walter, Françoise Gilot, Sylvette David, and Dora Maar, by Picasso. Voiced from the women.
Barcelona - Le Rêve (The Dream)
Sylvette - Sylvette 1954
Minotaur - La Minotauromachie 1935
Gilot - Portrait of Françoise 1946
Dora - Head of a Woman 1939
Whenever I write, I tend to focus on dad for a number of songs before moving on to other topics. It was a manipulative love hate abusive relationship that made no sense but that I deeply understand. I have vivid memories of his love for kites, teaching me to fly on weekends; how good he was with kids and friends, then the silence, distance, and years of hardened expression while breaking a daughter into emotional pieces.
Turnstile Hostile
Semibelieve
Almost Time
(Mercy street)
She Learned To Not Be Scared - a memory
Nothing Love - heart break
Stepping into the women's lives gave me agency to heal from a parallel place and gifted this album its graceful architecture. Grateful. Wish I could meet you.
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Surrija is simply on a different wavelength. After dropping three LPs and some viral hits under her former moniker Jane Lui, the electro pop phenom is wasting no time with the release of "Barcelona," an explosive single that is equally chilling and seductive. Few tracks, especially of the downtempo variety, have made me want to head-bang and wave my Bic lighter all at once. Surrija, who traveled to Barcelona to write the project, was inspired by Picasso's connection to the capital but more importantly the female lovers and muses he kept in the shadows. It's a fascinating concept that surely will spawn an unputdownable debut record.
- Gark Mavigan, EARMILK
..It enmeshes and picks apart musical styles in a dance that is as opulent as it is sparse. It plays with lightness and weight, lack and abundance. Focusing on the female lovers of Picasso, the record was informed by their talents. Talents denied to these women as he took inspiration from them. As Lui notes: “They are love letters to the women.” Lui’s atmospheric visions create a landscape; façades of brutalism, alive with glitches, reverb and collected sounds. Throwing open the doors, however, you glimpse behind the architecture to reveal plush and luxurious interiors, clean lines and bright opulent splashes of colour. Lui’s tireless attention to detail can be seen through every facet, and yet there is a free-flowing luminosity. It plays with freedom and restraint, nestling back into ideas of lightness and weight.
Surrija perfectly encapsulates all that can be said in her own admittance: “I had to shed my clinical approach and befriend my slightly feral tendencies." - Clementine Llyod, BEARDED MAG
Tracklist
| 1. | Nothing Love | 4:00 |
| 2. | Barcelona | 3:30 |
| 3. | Sylvette | 4:18 |
| 4. | Minotaur | 3:47 |
| 5. | She learned to not be scared | 1:44 |
| 6. | Gilot | 5:33 |
| 7. | Turnstile Hostile | 4:19 |
| 8. | Dora | 4:26 |
| 9. | Mercy Street | 3:37 |
| 10. | Semibelieve | 4:40 |
| 11. | h u m | 0:31 |
| 12. | Almost Time | 3:17 |
Credits
Producers Surrija, Sophocles Papavasilopoulos, Maxwell Gualtieri
Engineered by Sophocles Papavasilopoulos & Maxwell Gualtieri
Mixed by Sophocles Papavasilopoulos all songs except
Tom Biller on Sylvette and Turnstile Hostile
Mastered by Daniel Eaton at Little Castle Mastering, Los Angeles Ca
Recorded at Pots and Pans Studio, Silverlake Ca
Drums recorded at Cyclops Sound Studio, Van Nuys Ca
Almost time recorded at home with Soph & Max.
All programming dreamt up by Surrija, Sophocles, & Maxwell.
Engineered by Sophocles.
All songs written by Surrija & Albert Chiang except
Semibelieve, Almost Time, h u m, She learned to not be scared by Surrija.
Mercy Street by Peter Gabriel
Surrija - Vocals, Moog, piano, mellotron, software synths
Matt Chamberlain - Drums, mixed percussion, modular synth
Maxwell Gualtieri - Electric guitar, bass, drum machine
Sophocles - piano, vocals, clarinet
Albert Chiang - Vocals, Bass (Dora)
Charles Kim - Bass (Turnstile Hostile)
Paul Dateh - Violin
Jake Rosenzweig - Double Bass, noise
Christine Tavolacci - Flute, alto flute
Callaghan Papavasilopoulos - Vocals
Mano Koolhaas - Vocals
Others:
Thigh slaps, box hitting, jumping up and down, mouth percussion, Max’s keys, throat singing, matt through my boombox.
Field sounds:
She learned to not be scared - from hotel room in HK summer 2016.
Semibelieve - night sounds while stargazing in Pine Mountain Club, Ca., retreat with Paul Dateh & Albert Chiang, summer 2017
Funded by 310 Backers on Kickstarter.
Major support provided by Umami Foundation.
License
All rights reserved.Tags
"Chilling & seductive"
- Earmilk
"Lui’s tireless attention to detail can be seen through every facet. It plays with freedom and restraint, nestling back into ideas of lightness and weight." - Bearded Mag
Electro art pop that combines the love for sound and song form that is tactile and surprising. She plays with space and impact, glitch and gloss as a way to map mind into sound.