Szjerdene - Szjerdene – Are You Here
SZJERDENE has a voice both earthly in its soul and celestial in its purity. Soothingly familiar it may be to some but never has it been so distilled into an artistic statement of sonic and visual intent. Following up critically acclaimed work as a lead vocalist and co-writer for Lapalux and Bonobo respectively, Szjerdene is now destined for solo stardom, starting with brand new single ‘Are You Here’, premiered this week by Pigeons & Planes…
Floating on a dusty sound bed of dreamy synths and soft rolling drums, Szjerdene’s evocative vocals emerge with crystalline quality as the track builds with cinematic strings into an emotive modern lullaby with a raw anthemic power. ‘Are You Here’ is destined to soar above fields at sunset this summer. Produced by Glenn Nicholls, Szjerdene puts the collaboration into words: “Working with Glen Nicholls aka “Atatika” is like musical alchemy. He completely understands the sound scape and dimension that my voice travels through and is best accompanied by. I had no doubt, after collaborating on “Blue Lullaby” eight years ago, that I wanted to recreate something timeless with him. Writing ‘Are You Here’ was the perfect opportunity to purposely get lost in his palette of sound once again.”
Growing up in East London, but now residing along the scenic canals of Amsterdam, Szjerdene has been quietly honing her luscious take on the craft for the past few years and turning heads around the globe. With an impressive range of strings to her bow, the first official ‘Patchwork EP’ dropped in 2013 via Ninja Tune and the soulful songstress has since been touring with Bonobo and his ‘Northern Borders’ album playing 175 headline dates and festivals over the past 18 months. Big things are coming for the artist with a body of new material in the pipeline. Abstract in story yet with an accessible heartbeat and that truly mesmeric voice, Szjerdene’s unique mix of soul and folk inflected vocals combined with electronic left field sounds is about as seductive as it gets.
