Maija Sofia — Bath Time (Nov. 22, 2019)
✹ Laura Marling, Angel Olsen, Powpig a Junior Brother. Maija Sofia, jedna z nejuznávanějších mladých folkových umělkyň v Irsku vytvořila nadčasové debutové album, inspirované tradičními písněmi. Po úspěchu lo~fi dream~pop singlu „Flowers“ vydala Maija Sofia své debutové album „Bath Time Sofia“, které se inspirovalo tradičními lidovými baladami s puncem příběhů a prosvítilo je objektivem punkového DIY étosu. Název alba pochází z rituálu každodenního koupání, rozmarného místa, kde byla napsána většina textů. Album pojednává o tom, jak byly ženské hlasy, příběhy a touhy po celé historii odsunuty a zkresleny. Od Edie Sedgwick po Bridget Cleary představují Sofiiny písně svět, ve kterém umlčené ženy opět promluví. Styl psaní písní je u Sofie s přidanou hodnotou nadčasovosti, která se stává při každém poslechu důležitější a vřelejší. Notes: Bridget Cleary (c. 1869 ~ 15 March 1895) byla irskou ženou zabitou vlastním manželem v roce 1895. Její smrt je pozoruhodná pro několik zvláštností: motivem zločinu bylo přesvědčení jejího manžela, že byla unesena vílou s povahou tzv. „changeling“ (proměnlivostí tvora na jejím místě; tím vlastně prohlašoval, že zabil jen toho tzv. „changeling“. Příšerná povaha případu — zřejmě totiž byla stále naživu, nebo okamžitě zapálena po své smrti — vyvolala rozsáhlé tiskové zpravodajství. Soud následoval těsně po novinových zprávách v Irsku a Británii. Jak komentoval jeden recenzent, nikdo s výjimkou předsedajícího soudce si nemyslel, že se jedná o běžný případ vraždy.
♦ Měnící se tvor je lidský tvor, který se vyskytuje ve folklóru a lidovém náboženství v celé Evropě. Věřící se považovalo za vílové dítě, které bylo ponecháno na místě lidského dítěte ukradeného vílou. Téma zaměněného dítěte je ve středověké literatuře běžné a odráží obavy o kojence, u nichž se předpokládá, že jsou postiženi nevysvětlitelnými nemocemi, poruchami nebo vývojovými postiženími.
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Genre: Singer~Songwriter
Album release: Nov. 22, 2019
Record Label: Trapped Animal Records
Duration: 39:06
Tracks:
1 The Gold Shoes 2:55
2 Hail Mary 4:11
3 Edie Sedgwick 4:29
4 The Wife of Michael Cleary 4:45
5 The Glitter 3:46
6 Cobweb 3:21
7 Morning 5:25
8 Elizabeth 4:34
9 The Trees They Do Grow High 4:40
℗ 2019 Trapped Animal Records
Pressing Information
∴ 100 x Limited Edition Blue at 180 GSM
∴ 200 x Black VInyl 140 GSM
∴ 250 x CD Jewel Case
Praise for Bath Time:
✹ “something uniquely compelling.” — The Line Of Best Fit
✹ “breathtaking folk magic.” — Earmilk
✹ “Maija Sofia’s debut is a triumph and this is an album that needs to be heard.” — 10/10 The Last Mixed Tape
✹ “This is a brave debut from Maija Sofia. It would have been very easy to exploit her ethereal vocals and songwriting stengths to romanticise her native Ireland. Instead she uses this debut album to make a defining statement about the role of women, and seeks reparation for their misrepresentation over the centuries in both culture and legend.” — Fatea Magazine
Praise for Maija Sofia:
✹ “An essential new release to get obsessed with’” — DIY magazine, 2018
✹ “‘A heavenly blend of lo~fi and dream pop. Think Jesus and Mary Chain meets Angel Olsen.’” — Hot Press, 2018
✹ “A real timeless quality is rare in so much of modern music, but the delicate timbre of Maija Sofia’s music is impossible to ascribe to a particular moment. She doesn’t occupy an easily identifiable space — there are few genres which could accurately pinpoint her sound — and the ease with which she weaves grand tales of mythos into short and delicate folk tunes suggests a true finesse. Her subject matter is seldom trivial — abuse, mythological stories, feminism and loss are considered with a confident serenity [...] Fans of Sofia wait with bated breath for the release of her first full~length LP in 2019.” — Andrea Cleary, The Irish Times ‘50 People to Watch in 2019’
Review
By Craig Howieson / 20 NOVEMBER 2019, 11:17 GMT / Score: 9
✹ Long dark nights on the road, rain dancing in your headlights; an exhaustive abundance of time in which to think and dwell. It is within this space that records like Maija Sofia’s Bath Time seem destined to reside.
✹ Comforting yet challenging strands of atmospheric folk claw at a deeper level of consciousness. A softly fermenting fury washes at the stains of an unjust past.
✹ Sofia’s debut is thematically framed around the silenced, forgotten or rewritten women of history. Utilising the seraphic cocoon of her own voice to cast fresh eyes over the stories of others she drifts through sea shanty folk fables and dark pools of lo~fi indie to find herself at the precipice of something brutally beautiful. The messages of Bath Time are vitally important. The lyrical dexterity Sofia wields with ease is enough alone to make this a record of note. The murderous gloaming of “The Wife of Michael Cleary” details the harrowing fate of Bridget Cleary at the hands of her husband, a crime dangerously reduced by history to a whimsical tale, cruelly masking its true horror. It is no coincidence the title bears the victims husbands name and not her own. Within the heart pull of strings and half spoken harmonies with guest vocalist Ronan Kealy it shares the same entrancing nature of all great folk songs, where the sweetest of melodies disguise something quite sinister.
✹ With the comfort of old clothes clinging to new wounds Sofia shares the same fragile resilience and threadbare honesty found in the works of Keaton Henson and Tomberlin. Her reticent strums of electric guitar ache with a profound anticipation, not unlike the playing style of Jason Molina; solid proof that less is often more as cello, synth and lap steel populate the spaces she creates.
✹ Bath Time, which Sofia states was influenced at least on some level by the repeal of the eighth amendment on abortion in Ireland, is a platform for progression. An important re~calibration of women failed by the recollections of time and a clarion call for a society in which women voices are still too often second to be heard. At times painfully exposed Sofia retains an empowered stance (“nothing can corrode me now / of that I am sure” — “Morning”) leaving memories that will linger on.
✹ Whether it is within the shackling twinkle of “The Glitter” or the confident push of cello running through “Elizabeth”, Sofia manages to marry her messages to melodies that mist your eyes and creep up your spine. It is then that the lyrics they hold become etched on the walls of your mind and you can’t help but pick at the threads to pull apart their meaning. These are profound truths hidden in plain sight, something to ponder on that next long drive.
✹ https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/
Bandcamp: https://maijasofia.bandcamp.com/album/bath-time
FB: https://www.facebook.com/maijasofiamusic
Label: http://www.trappedanimal.com/
Louise Bruton: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/maija-sofia-bath-time-review-immersive-tales-of-wronged-women-1.4086974
•∏• Laura Marling, Angel Olsen, Powpig and Junior Brother. Maija Sofia, one of Irelands most lauded young folk artists has produced a timeless debut album, inspired by story~driven traditional folk~ballads, shone through the lens of punk DIY ethos. Following the success of lo~fi dream~pop single Flowers, Maija Sofia releases her debut album Bath Time Sofia took inspiration from story~driven traditional folk ballads and shone them through the lens of a punk DIY ethos. The album name comes from the ritual of daily bathing, a whimsical place where most of the lyrics were written. The album deals with the ways in which women’s voices, stories and desires have been sidelined and misrepresented throughout history. From Edie Sedgwick to Bridget Cleary, Sofia’s songs imagine a world in which silenced women speak back.