Though different in genre, November’s albums have a unifying theme: the inside meets the outside world. Some talk about their subjective feelings, perhaps offering their listeners some kind of refuge or dream. The stories of others are more specific, more related to current problems. In the tumultuous times we live in now, the sound of popular music is also changing. The levity and party feel is still maintained, but the emotional ballads probably make more people cry now.
Martha
Photo: Aiga Leitholde
With faith in the good
In early November, singer Marta released her second album “Dabas Paradība”. It consists of nine songs, the most famous of which are “Therapy”, “The movie I don’t want to see”, “Smuggling of love”. Marta’s songs tell about what is relevant to her, happy and painful, with the singer’s characteristic smell, femininity, playfulness. Marta does not escape the sadness and confusion caused by world events, but with her music she keeps good faith. She is a romantic dreamer. Producers DJ Rudd and JJ Lush worked on the album’s songs. Along with the album release, Marta also announces a spring concert, which we are expecting at KK von Strick’s villa in Riga on April 12 next year.
Chris Noah
Photo: Aiga Leitholde
On the dark sides of love
Local indie-pop singer Chris Noah’s new mini-album ‘Red Light’ features six songs, including singles ‘Sunboy’ and ‘Only Yours’. The songs were created together with the musician’s longtime allied producer Kristofer Harris, published by ‘Sony Music Finland & Baltics’. Chris Noah’s music is characterized by catchy melodies, shades of emotional nuances, in which the characteristic of rock music is also felt.
“While working on the mini-album, I tried to be honest with myself, to see things as they really are,” says Chris Noah. “I realized for the first time that ‘not feeling love’ is not just a made up concept or an excuse to get out of a relationship you no longer want to be in. This realization was at the heart of my writing process, to which I approached it from different angles: uncertainty, doubt, jealousy and regret. The title track ‘Red Light’ is about disillusionment.”
“Trio of Impulses”
Photo: Aiga Leitholde
Music as a cure
Although the jazz drummer, composer Pauls Pokratnieks released his debut album “The End Is The Beginning” of the trio “Pulse Trio” already in February of this year, the presentation concert with the opportunity to buy the album in newly pressed vinyl format took place on November 2 in “M/Darbnīkė”.
The musician reveals, “I don’t play my original music that often, so it’s more special because you understand that I’m responsible for everything.”
Previously, his compositions were more rational, more complex, but “The End Is The Beginning” is an album where Paul included more emotion, less technical elements. The album was inspired by Paula’s experience of divorce. He says, “When you play the songs, you relive what happened, you can look back on what you went through and you’re now in a much better time in your life. Writing music was my therapy. I started writing lyrics more which I also see as a sort of healing process.”
Captain Reinis
Photo: advertising image
In search of truth and justice
“Antiņas pantiņi” is the second album of Kapteiņas Reinis, in which Reinis experiments with different styles of electronic music (Drum and Bass, Trap, Future Garage, Trip Hop, Reggaeton), combined with acoustic instruments, orchestral music and rap. The songs were written between 2017 and 2022 and the album is about current topics: truth and justice, the impact of technology on society, each person’s responsibility for their own life, the construction of reality.
The following took part in the recording of the album: cellist Erna Daugaviete, guitarists Armands Varslavāns and Egils Leimanis, flautist Ieva Rutentāle, percussionist Matīss Uškāns, bassist Andris Jeziks, singer Monta Zaļkalne, bassoonist Mārtiņš Roberts Grīnbergs, singer of guest artists Elizabete Made, rapper and singer Amanito (aka Mušmire), Indian singer Shah Zay and rapper Emmanuel Waqar. Reinis Klatenbergs is both composer and lyricist and also plays various instruments: trumpet, french horn, guitar, ukulele, synthesizers and melodica.
Pioneer
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Win the win!
The largest Latvian hip-hop association “Kreisais krasts” was formed in 2002, and its founders are rapper Pionieris together with graffiti artist Valchus. Since the very beginning of the association, Pionier’s priority has been the development of “Left Bank”, so listeners did not expect a solo album from the artist himself all these years.
Pioneer’s debut album “Let us win the battles we don’t talk about” was created in 2022, it includes 8 songs and 1 skit. The vocal recording was done at “Kreisa krasta studio”, in Riga, with Gundars Neimans (“Trachamelodia”) at the console. The recordings were mixed and mastered by Dāvis Strauss in Hollywood, USA, at the legendary “Chalice Recording Studio”, where artists such as Kanye West, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, etc. they recorded “It’s been over 20 years since I’ve been in rap – that’s how long it’s taken to get to the point where I can afford to make my debut album the way I want,” Pionieris admits.
According to the rapper, the title of the album is a tribute to all those who face and struggle with physical and mental problems in their way. “There are battles that we have not shared with others, or we simply cannot for various reasons. This is a wish for all those who are fighting: that we can win the battles that we don’t talk about”, Pionieris explains in the title of the album.
Mičelis Dzenuska
Photo: Maria Bulankina
For big and small dreamers
Multi-instrumentalist Miķelis Dzenuška released the mini-album “Sapņotājs” this November, which contains five songs, influenced by funk, merger in stylistics, maintaining a minimalist approach. The lyrics describe happy everyday scenes, the feelings of the moment, sung in a playful way. The album will appeal to fans of experimental music and will most likely appeal to younger listeners with its sincerity.
Matiss Pavitols
Photo: advertising image
Imprint of life
Musician Matīss Pavītols, who until now was known to the general public as a drummer in such musical projects as “Tumsa”, “Putnu balle” and “Walters and Kaža”, released his first solo album “Sapņu PVN”. Along with the release of the album, the first single for the audience rating was also released – the song “Momm, I’m a prison”, which is a tribute to Ukraine and its people.
The album “Sapņu PVN” includes eleven songs, most of them with music and lyrics written by Matīss Pavītols. Lyrics by other authors are used for a couple of songs, and covers of popular songs are also heard on the album. For example, the song “Mans zēns” is Matīs’ version of a once popular song by Jura Pavītolas performed by the group “Saime”.
“The album was created over a long period of time. The songs were recorded and added to the album randomly. Each of them has its own story and feeling, so it wasn’t so easy to arrange them in one block common. It’s like children or relatives, everyone is a family, but everyone is different, dare I say – special. That’s why the album is like a life, including topics from relationships, love and children to pain, death and to war. The songs “Pilītes” and “Mamm, ghūsā es” have a special history,” says Matīss Pavītols.
The lyrics of the song “Mom, I’m a prisoner” are from Ukraine. The only thing known about the author of the text is that he was a Russian soldier captured by the Ukrainians. “I received a poem written as a letter to my mother by a Russian soldier. It was written in Kherson and quickly spread throughout the Ukraine. I got it from a teacher in Vainode. She from someone in Zaporizhzhia. I I attach the music and send it back, hoping it reaches him and he can spread this song. That’s why the song is in two languages. But I had to fight an internal battle to read this poem without prejudice and find that the poem is about the Ukrainian people , about humanity, faith and not giving up. It says that whatever the enemy does, its people will remain strong and continue to be themselves. The doctor, who is one of the heroes of the poem, is a physical representation of the image of Ukraine. Despite the unimaginable crime, he heals the wounded killer,” says Matīs Pavītols.
Greta
Photo: Edgars Drusts
A new star is shining!
Young singer Greta, who became known to the general public after winning the fourth season of ‘X Factor’, released her debut mini-album ‘Veļ zaivien man ľinųsos’. The album was created in different songwriting fields, in which authors and producers like Māra Upmane-Holšteine, Chris Noah, roland če, Edavārdi, Dagnis Roziņš, JJ Lush, xantikvariāts, Kristaps Ārglis, DJ Rudd, as well as the Ukrainian producer Edgars Vilcāns attended. Along with the release of the album, a single is also released – the power ballad “Can You Protect Me”. The album also contains the songs “Tikai đenu deju” and “Pāries”.
“The name of the album came to my mind for a long time, it was important that it symbolized not only the time and events after the victory of “X Factor”, but also my emotions, which alternated both with joy and often with ‘inability to believe everything that happened so fast,” says Greta. Her songs are inspired by both her own life and other people’s lives. Greta’s advantage is her trained, tonally colorful voice, through which her songs resonate in the listeners longer.
