Zmei3
(pronounced zmay-tray) is made up of Romanian immigrants whose beautiful and
heartfelt music rises from the harsh realities and struggles of a
post-Communist rule. Their debut album
Rough Romanian Soul (out April 22 on Six Degrees Records) is produced by
GRAMMY® award-winner, Ian Brennan, best known for his work with Tinariwen,
Zomba Prison Project, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and the Malawi Mouse Boys. Zmei3 being huge fans of Brennan’s work,
successfully raised funds via Kickstarter to cover recording costs, travel, and
more. They flew Brennan to Romania and
began recording the album in August 2015 live without overdubs in the
Transylvanian mountains, just a stone’s throw away from Dracula’s Castle.
The band is
led by powerhouse vocalist, Paula Turcas, a trained, mezzo-soprano opera singer
who gave up classical music in the pursuit of a more truthful artistry grounded
in the struggles of everyday life. When
she was three years old – the daughter of the village priest – began to sing
the traditional Romanian folk songs. She would sing with such despair that when
people passed by, her father would lift her up on the table and people would
stop and listen with tears in their eyes.
Her voice remains so visceral that Berlin’s Der Tagesspiegel newspaper
stated, “When Zmei3 are playing, it’s not rare that tears are falling in the
audience.” Their sound is made all the more unique by featuring vibraphone
virtuoso, Oli Bott, for their lead instrument.
Rounding out the talented group is Mihai Victor Ilieschu on guitars and
lyrics, as well as Arnulf Ballhorn on double bass. The band’s name is inspired by an ancient
Romanian anti-hero, misfit dragon – a rebellious figure, who rarely prevails,
but remains committed to his ideals.
The name of
the album, Rough Romanian Soul is an ode to Romanian music entrenched with a
deep history of regional blues and soul, as well as the inherent spirituality
of their work. Turcas adds, “The land is
rough and the people strong, and our legacy is one of survival.” Music from Transylvania is not commonly
associated with aggressive styles mashing up blues and soul with influences of
jazz, avant-garde, and folk with such introspective topics and emotive
soundscapes. But that is exactly what Zmei3
succeeds in doing on their fifteen-track debut.
Bott explains, “We had more than three albums worth of material and many
of our most famous songs live were left off the album, in exchange for newer
and more challenging material.”
Across the
fifteen songs, Zmei3 cover topics of resistance, immigration, oppression, love,
death, pride, loneliness, and strength.
“2 Mail” / 2nd of May is story of 2 Mai, a village at the Black Sea,
close to the border with Bulgaria, which was a haven for hippies who wanted to
escape the constraints of the communist regime.
“Poveste Din Țara Mea” / Story From My Country is about the
feelings of an immigrant who left behind everything that he loved. A father is
telling his little girl that she should never forget that there’s a country, a lost paradise, and
that one day they will seek revenge on those who destroyed it. “Shhh!!! (Tot ce nu se spunea atunci)” /
Shhh!!! (All the speech that was forbidden then) is an improvised song, created
around all the things, ideas and thoughts that were forbidden during the 45-year
repressive regime in Romania. “Mărie,
Mărie” / Mary, Mary is an essential love ballad from southern Romania. A kind
of southern blues. “Până când nu te
iubeam” / Since I’ve been loving you according to the band says, “It’s a
strange coincidence that there is a Led Zeppelin song with the same title – but
maybe it’s no coincidence since it’s exactly about the same feelings. ‘I’m
about to lose…my worried mind’ – only that this song is urban folklore from
Bucharest, dating from around 1850.”
“Într-o zi” / One day is the band’s slow blues song which was inspired
by Bob Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country Fair.” Other standouts include “Imn” / Hymn composed
without lyrics and dedicated to the human experience, while “Vis” / Dream is
dedicated to the memory of the Resistance fighters from the 50’s – and to those
very few who always choose to fight and resist, even when it’s clear they have
no chance.
Much of the
songwriting was done via “instant composition,” where the producer Ian Brennan
pushed the band to create songs and record simultaneously. All while being inspired by the environment
of the Transylvania mountains that were in view. Brennan expresses, “music should breath,
music should live, and come from inside a person. Equipment is secondary. Simply
a means to an end. The ability to be
high amidst the mountains, to see them, and be there together, lends a
sacredness to this project.” Brennan is
known for capturing the environment in which he records. For example Brennan’s latest release on Six
Degrees Records, Zomba Prison Project was recorded in Malawi, and documented
the music of prisoners at the maximum security prison in Zomba. The album was nominated for a “World Music”
GRAMMY® which garnered critical praise on the cover of the New York Times, as
well as features in CNN, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, NPR, Associated Press, Rolling
Stone, The Guardian, and more.
Brennan
concludes, “Eastern Europe in general has been neglected by the rest of the
world in terms of interest and exploration of music and culture. It has
literally and deliberately been treated as a bloc. There is a great ignorance
amongst many as to what Eastern Europe even is after World War II, so to have
vibrant and modern music from Romania is a very valuable thing.”
Track
Listing:
Stai Lângă
Mine (Stay Near Me)
Imn (Hymn)
2 Mai (2nd
Of May)
Poveste Din
Tara Mea (Story From My Country)
Shhh!!!…Tot
Ce Nu Se Spunea Atunci (Shhh!!!…All The Forbidden Speech)
Mărie, Mărie
(Mary, Mary)
Aș Munci La Plug Și Coasă (To Have You)
Până Când Nu
Te Iubeam (Since I’ve Been Loving You)
Ah! (Ay!)
Într-o Zi
(One Day)
Vreau Un
Bărbat (I Want A Man)
Somn De
Frumusețe (Beauty Sleep)
Voi Găsi (I
Will Find)
Vis (Dream)
She’s Gone
Wild
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