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The pleasure of music discovery is always multiplied when it's shared, and that's why I would love to introduce Jara, an Icelandic musician who gives us "Hope".
"Hope" is the title of her new single to give us a taste of her forthcoming album (download it for free via her Bandcamp page):
Although her music isn't distinctly definable and she suffers "from a severe case of genre-blindness", Jara says that when she's asked to assign her music a genre she calls it "esoteric horror pop". She describes "Hope" as an encounter of contradictions like "darkness and light, love and fear, hope and despair."
Her musical talent has already been appreciated. In July 2012 Jara won an award for best music in a film (Sweet Viking by Salma Cheddadi) at one of France's best short film festivals, Cote Court.
Jara recently took some time off to study philosophy and music composition in Reykjavík, which she feels has affected her way of creating new music. Her unique ability of perceiving reality and transforming it into art will be also noticeable in her upcoming music videos. Jara gives us a sneak peak of her anticipated video for "Hope" by releasing some beautiful still shots from it.
I must mention that the person responsible for the magnificent costumes is the Polish stylist Agnieszka Baranowska.
The sounds and pictures spread the atmosphere of mystery all around, increasing curiosity and the urge to uncover more of Jara's musical secrets...
Download "Hope" for free here: http://jara.bandcamp.com/track/hope
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/jaraulfynja
TWITTER https://twitter.com/jara_ulfynja
BANDCAMP http://jara.bandcamp.com/
GOGOYOKO http://www.gogoyoko.com/artist/jara - www.nordicspotlight.com
Tónlistarmaðurinn Jara gaf nýverið út lagið „Hope“ en það er að fyrsta af væntanlegri plötu sinni sem kemur út seinna á árinu. Plötuna vann hún að mestu leiti sjálf en þeir Hjálmar Guðmundur Kristinn Jónsson og Sigurður Guðmundsson aðstoðuðu hana við að leggja lokahöndina á gripinn. - www.rjominn.is
Na poczatku wrzesnia swiatlo dzienne ujrzal najnowszy singiel Jary – Hope. Utwór promuje zapowiadany drugi juz dlugograjacy album artystki. Muzyke Jary trudno zdefiniowac, ale ona sama okresla ja mianem „ezoterycznego horror popu”.
Do nas Jara trafila poprzez Nordic Spotlight dzieki zaprzyjaznionej Redakcji „Dobre, bo dunskie”. O artystce wiemy, ze ma nie tylko gruntowne wyksztalcenie muzyczne – studia kompozytorskie w Reykjaviku, ale studiowala równiez filozofie. To polaczenie wplynelo na jej sposób tworzenia muzyki – wyjatkowa zdolnosc postrzegania rzeczywistosci przetwarzanej w forme sztuki. Jara zapowiada, ze bedzie to równiez widoczne w jej klipach wideo. Póki co udostepnila kilka zdjec z planu teledysku do utworu „Hope”. W klipie zobaczycie postacie ubrane w kostiumy stworzone przez polska stylistke Agnieszke Baranowska.
Jak udalo mi sie dowiedziec, najnowszy album Jary najprawdopodobniej ukaze sie dopiero na poczatku przyszlego roku. Natomiast video do Hope powinno byc gotowe niebawem, bo do konca wrzesnia. W tym roku pojawi sie tez EPka promujaca pelna plyte. Oczywiscie bedziemy Was o wszystkim informowac.
Pierwszy album Jary, pochodzacy z 2008 roku „Dansaðu við mig” znajdziecie (i posluchacie w calosci za darmo) na naszym ulubionym gogoyoko.
http://jara.bandcamp.com/ - Muzyka Islandzka
Quirky but edgy Icelandic pop - Alfitude
A free download from an exciting new Icelandic pop lady who is about to release her first solo album.
‘Hope’ is the first single to be taken from the album that she’ll be releasing later this year. “A multi genre bastard of an album“, as she calls it.
The song is a funny one. Very interesting, and instantly captivating. And while you don’t quite know what’s going on, the sounds encourage you to delve into it more to find out, rather than putting you off. As such, it’s a difficult track to describe. So we asked Jara to do it for us!
“In this song I am singing about opposites. Darkness and light, love and fear, hope and despair. So I wanted the music to reflect that, but in a super positive pop manner because it is essentially about hope“, she says. We also asked her to sum up her sound in general, on this forthcoming album. “I suffer from a severe case of genre-blindness but one possible way to describe it could be esoteric horror pop“. Amazing.
You can download ‘Hope’ for free here.
When we asked her why she was giving it away for free, her answer was this: “I am just really happy that my album is finally just a couple of days from being born. It´s taken such along time that I´ve been feeling like a pregnant woman, long overdue, for too long and now that It´s finally seeing the light of day I just want to share it with everyone. And besides, shouldn´t ‘Hope’ be free? “. A good answer there, wrapping everything up at the end.
As is often the tradition with Icelandic pop ladies, Jara comes off as being a little bit mental – both in her music and in her state of mind when she’s conversing with you. But charmingly so, of course. And straight away, we’re very intrigued to hear more from her. - Scandipop
„Það verður mjög spennandi að spila þarna,“ segir tónlistarkonan Jarþrúður Karlsdóttir, Jara, sem hefur verið boðið að spila í Pompidou, nýlistasafni Frakklands og einu virtasta listasafni heims. „Þetta er mikill heiður. Það er ekkert auðvelt að komast þarna inn.“ - Frettabladid/www.visir.is
Promotion for the premiere of the film Sweet Viking by Salma Cheddadi - Le mouv
Discography
Dansaðu við mig (self-released LP, distribution 12 tónar)
Hope - single (september 2012)
Album out later in 2012 (TBA)
Photos
Bio
Born July 9, 1945, Jara was a countess from the renowned Báthory family of Hungarian nobility. Although in modern times she has been labelled the most prolific female serial killer in history, her guilt is debated. She is nevertheless remembered as the "Blood Countess" or "Blood Queen". Also, she is a prolific American author best known for her novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. She also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of her books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with 12 hardcovers and 14 paperbacks reaching the number one slot.
Her music was heavily influenced by the social issues of her homeland, and she is considered to have given voice to the specific political and cultural nexus of Jamaica. Sometimes referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum (Latin, "the Princess of Mathematicians" or "the foremost of mathematicians") and "greatest mathematician since antiquity", Jara had a remarkable influence in many fields of mathematics and science and is ranked as one of history's most influential mathematicians. She referred to mathematics as "the queen of sciences". On November 25, 1970, Jara and four members of the Tatenokai, under pretext, visited the commandant of the Ichigaya Camp — the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and banner listing their demands, Jara stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. Her speech was intended to inspire a coup d'état restoring the powers of the emperor. She succeeded only in irritating them, and was mocked and jeered. She finished her planned speech after a few minutes, returned to the commandant's office and committed seppuku, after that she went home and wrote a song about it.
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