From Belgrade, Serbia, yet based in Barcelona, Spain, Aleksandra Denda is one of those Downtempo artists that grow scarily easy on you with abundant emotional intimacy and tender vocal delivery. When you pair the sensitive yet complex performing style of the artist with the illusionistic visuals of INNER I, the singer’s latest release, you obtain a beautifully executed tune of majestic proportions. Remember Enigma? The 3-time Grammy-nominated New Age group from Europe that sold over 70 million album copies worldwide? Well, Aleksandra Denda is carrying the same torch of world influences and enhanced focus on the overall acoustic show than on her voice or another singular element alone.
“I wrote this song in one of the toughest periods of my life. There was so much loss associated with that time: the loss of my health, my life as I knew it, and that of the future I thought I had. INNER I was one of those catalysts that helped me find myself again by deep diving into my pain. Through the different female characters, I showcased all the parts that comprise my essence, from wisdom, temptation, and doubt, to strength, grace, and everything in between. Artists like Frida Kahlo and Marina Abramovic are behind the inspiration for the visuals,” shares Aleksandra Denda exclusively for Blue Rhymez Entertainment.
The first gleaming air bells morph themselves into sounding almost like an organ. With rather accelerated frequency yet monotone waves of pitches bringing about wind blows, INNER I commences on a note of injured innocence. “Hear me call, hear me call/ Open up that door/ I’ve been summoning you/ Dark walls, dark halls how long will it be/ Chasing divinity?” sublimely belts Aleksandra Denda. Now don’t expect to hear a church vibrato-type of belting. Think instead of the likes of Dido. Aleksandra’s voice is a silent roar if you will. You hear that the singer has exceptional vocal control yet she refrains from exploiting it full throttle because she wants to work in harmony with the music and create a passionate tandem instead of a flagrant competition. Good stuff indeed.
Unexpectedly, instead of going lower, Denda goes up in pitch and glitters her pipes with airy tones to match the lyrics: “Waiting for the sun to shine, waiting for a silver lining?” and keeps the same tune when following with “Seeing with my inner eye, looking for a place where I left my crown.” So while the lyrics are gradually increasing in significance, the singer plays with the voice not allowing the listener to anticipate her melody arrangement.
With a most demure countenance, the Downtempo singer progresses with a quiet drive creating an abiding addiction to the ethereal feeling INNER I conveys: “Hear me call, hear me crawl/ Open up that door/ We’ve been here before/ High lows, high lows, how long will it be/ Tiptoeing in the snow?” That snow could be a failed appearance that one is still trying to hold onto as it could typify the promise of a clean slate and the fear to mess it up. We also note the same melodic lead as in the first part of INNER I thus detecting a slight commercial tone of the record but only ever so subtle to keep you around.
Around 2 minutes in, after the second verse and post-hook of the record have been concluded, we get an intense yet suave drop of drums, vocal snippets, and harmonies. In the midst of it all, Aleksandra Denda comes in with the most serious approach we’ve heard on INNER I thus far: “Soul’s tied, heart’s blind/ I keep bending time.” This bit here feels like the only time when we get closest to the realness of it all. When you can feel the sadness in the beauty, the pain behind the high notes, the black behind the white. Most captivating and mesmerizing how the singer flipped songwriting on its head associating the happiness and lighter mood with the verses and a brooding equivalent for the short bridge. Rare.
The incontestable brilliance of Aleksandra Denda’s songwriting, singing, and melody arrangement skills are glaring in the audience’s ears through INNER I. Opting for a genre that’s been dormant for over a decade is no easy feat for anyone in the music industry and even a more imposing challenge for an indie artist. INNER I possesses an acoustic adaptability that’s filled with art, mystery, relatability, and vocal charm.
Song Credits: Aleksandra Denda – Singer, Songwriter; Giosué Greco – Music Producer; Fernando Feneyte – Sound Engineer; Jan Kus – Co-songwriter.
Make sure you support the singer by adding INNER I to your playlists on Apple Music HERE, on YouTube Music HERE, on Amazon HERE, on Deezer HERE, and on Spotify below:
Written by Mariana Berdianu
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