Image credit: Petra Briskova
Slovak-Hungarian musician Adela Mede explores the interplay between voice and technology with field recordings. She sings in three languages (Slovak, Hungarian and English). Intimate ambient utterances with themes of spiritual growth accompanied by experimental electronics with a wide scope of influences; from minimalism to folklore. Initially released in early 2022 to universal acclaim on digital and cassette, Night School is extremely excited to share Szabadság on vinyl. Mastered by Rupert Clervaux for vinyl, the clearer format teases out new nuances in the music, revealing a physicality and permanence to Mede’s first masterwork.
‘Szabadság is a navigation. This debut by Adela Mede, recorded in her family home on the Slovakian border with Hungary, searches through the personal, familial, cultural, folkloric and geographic of her past and present.
Examining both the vulnerability and determination of her voice – as it leaves the lips, raw, and in the ways it can be transformed with digital processing – the embodied memories of language, of utterance, are explored.
Airy, open sound worlds and tentative strings of improvised naked vocal transform themselves into insistent repetition. Fizzing, sparkling electronics are set against the beautiful grainy depth of field recordings. The locations, these places, are found and lost – home is found and lost – in a dance of fragmented vocal harmonies. Three languages (English, Hungarian, Slovak) weave a song of spring, nature, forgiveness, togetherness and rebirth.’
Words by Lisa Busby
Tracklisting
1 | Háromszorra Jövök Össze
2 | Interlude I
3 | Spolu
4 | Interlude II
5 | Gyöngyvirág
6 | Interlude III
7 | Sloboda
8 | Na Jar Sa Všetko Roztopí
9 | Voda Sa Vráti Tiež
Credits
Written, produced & performed by Adela Donoval
Track 1 and Track 3 co-produced with Andrew PM Hunt
Track 5 co-produced with Lung Dart
Track 8 produced by Andrew PM Hunt
Track 9 produced by Lung Dart
Vocal contributions on Track 8 and Track 9 by Daša Bulíkova
Cello on Track 7 by Hoda Jahanpour
Mixed by Adam Badí Donoval
Track 9 mixed by Lung Dart
Mastered by Rashad Becker
Artwork by Kvet Nguyen
Design by Ester Mládenková
Special thanks to Helena Mede and Elina Bolshenkova
Supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council
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