Melodies of life

The title of the first album in eight years by Swiss-Estonian singer, songwriter and pianist Ingrid Lukas says it all. Elumeloodia is Estonian and means something like "melody of life". The long wait is - it will come as no surprise given the title - linked to the changes that the artist has experienced in recent years, some involuntarily, some voluntarily. The creative break began when long-time musical partner Patrik Zosso fell seriously ill - he has since made a full recovery and, together with keyboardist Ephrem Lüchinger and bassist Manu Rindlisbacher, is now part of the core personnel of Elumeloodia. At the beginning of the enforced break, Lukas worked at a school for disadvantaged young people and observed the positive effect that musical activity can have. This insight stimulated her desire to study music therapy more intensively. She completed a Master's degree in this subject in Berlin and is now employed at the Barmelweid rehabilitation clinic in Aarau. This work in turn gave her a new perspective on her own needs. "I used to just make music because it was something I was born with," she says. "It was only during these eight years that I found out that I could do this must. Why it is my life's melody. That otherwise a part of me doesn't live."

About half of the Elumeloodia-Some of her songs have Estonian lyrics, a few others are in English, and she performs one in an improvised spoken language. The choice of language is spontaneous in the same sense (it does not rule out Swiss-German lyrics in the future), as Lukas today strives to approach her music as un-head-heavy as possible. Thanks to the sovereign vocal and compositional serenity she has achieved during her time of introspection, she allows herself completely new stylistic and technical freedoms. The songs were partly improvised in the studio with the above-mentioned musicians and then processed with all kinds of digital tricks. The result is a mysteriously shimmering music where analog-recorded, electronically processed sounds and vocals intertwine seamlessly in meditative intensity. The moods range from percussively ritualistic Rainspell about the ambient improvisation of Beginning right up to the wonderful, Nordic-gospel title track. An extraordinarily gripping album that resolutely goes its own stylistic way in every respect.

Ingrid Lukas: Elumeloodia. Ronin Rhythm Records RON 032