Coincidentally, I was writing about a film called Contact last night, in a piece on Ólafur Arnalds’ new single and another recent review included a video with some balletic movements from Finland’s KO: MI. We get both here, in a song and video from Swedish ‘world beat’ artist Gaeya, who shares her debut single, ‘Contact’. And ‘Gaeya’ – is that a wordplay on Gaia, the personification of the Earth in Greek Myth?
The track is “a call for awakening and connection amid an increasingly disconnected world.” She says, “2020 was the year when the feeling of separation took physical form. But it was also the year humans realised they needed contact. ‘Contact’ is a song about the importance and the gift that we humans have, to share with each other the physical and emotional touch that we need to survive.”
Well, it’s definitely pertinent.
Gaeya’s quest to deliver an inspiring and sustainable message has seen her perform a number of ‘Tipi Tours’ (not sure quite what they are, Mr Google couldn’t help, I guess it’s something to do with tents); “allowing an audience to be brought closer to the Earth and share the euphoric experience in an environment that takes us back to our roots around a glistening campfire, sharing stories and creating unity in the search for change.”
We’re entering into the deeply sustainable world of fellow Swede Resmiranda (who will be reviewed shortly) here, I suspect. A ‘sustainability podcast’ accompanied the press release. That made me feel a little uncomfortable because these songs can be too intense at times; too much for me, anyway.
But this one isn’t. She’s quite restrained in the way she presents it, its soothing and relaxing to listen to. It could replace those ‘lapping sea wave’ audios they encourage you to listen to when you’re trying to get to sleep on an aeroplane. Remember them? She doesn’t push the point and her vocals are both sweet and clear. There’s a moment when she sings “Calling contact” and I was expecting to hear “Calling occupants of interplanetary craft” but it’s no embarrassment to mistaken for a Carpenters’ song.
The video, equally representing the importance of contact between humans and nature, is equally tasteful as it moves away from a drone shot of polluted Anywhere City into the forest and lakes of Utopia. There’s some tree hugging that isn’t necessary but not too much that it becomes irritating, before some ‘skin on skin’ dance contact to round it off, although it looks more like a WWF bout towards the end as Gaeya is put into a half nelson.
There is something intensely Nordic about it. Perhaps it’s the analogue synths, which often don’t sound like synths at all, more like traditional Swedish instruments.
The PR offered a lot of extra information about Gaeya, concerning her environmental activities, her podcasts and tours and what have you. I was beginning to wonder if she is an environmental warrior first, or a musician but it seems that she has already had a number of sold-out tours throughout Sweden.
She’s an interesting artist for sure; let’s see what she comes up with next.
Although she’s a solo artist I was fascinated by her constant referral to ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ on her Facebook page. She evidently lives what she writes about.
Not quite ‘unique’ though, I can think of several other Swedish artists working in the same environment if you pardon the pun and I’d be intrigued to see what a pairing of Gaeya and Resmiranda might conjure up.
‘Contact’ is the first single from her EP ‘Awakening’, release date unknown.
Find her on Facebook.
Comments