Label: Warm Winters Ltd.

素晴らしい音楽性です。。。お見逃しなく。2022年にセルフでカセット出版した1st音源[Szabadsag]で注目を浴びたスロバキア系ハンガリー人アーティストAdela Mede。スロバキア語、ハンガリー語、英語を組み合わせた特殊なボーカルテクニックを使う作家であり、仄暗くもどこか温かなフォルクローレを感じる音楽性がとても美しい。本作は自身が教える歌の生徒、また同じく東欧の歌い手をフィーチャーした激ヤバなボーカル実験2ndアルバム[Ne L​epj A Vir​a​gra]。ミニマリストやフォークロアの影響を感じさせつつも、果敢な実験精神にて独自の音楽に仕上げた大推薦作。







A year and a half has passed since Slovak-Hungarian artist Adela Mede self-released her debut album ‘Szabadság’. Its liner notes described it as “a navigation”, a search through “the personal, familial, cultural, folkloric and geographic of her past and present.” Her second album, ‘Ne Lépj a Virágra’ no longer searches; here, she puts down roots and delves deeper into the earthy reality of her home, Central Europe. Mede sings in three languages with newfound conviction and grace – this is an album of profound faith and confidence in the potential of this fertile soil.

Composed and recorded during the last 18 months in Bratislava, Slovakia – a city where three countries meet, where the East and the West collide – 'Ne Lépj a Virárga' translates to “don't step on the flower”. Its themes – budding potential, recognizing the beauty in the ordinary, solidarity, turning despair into hope – emerged through Mede's wholehearted involvement with her community, teaching singing to both children and adults, and various grassroots volunteering initiatives. It features collaborations with local artists, Mede's singing students, as well as fellow Eastern European contemporary artists Martyna Basta and Wojciech Rusin.

Adela Mede embellishes carefully crafted songs with minimalist and folklore influences, but also embraces more experimental approaches. The result is a collection of quite varied yet consistent pieces which highlight Mede's proficiency as a singer, arranger, producer and improviser. It is a grounded, confident next step for the Bratislava-based artist. Whether her vocals are naked, heavily processed, warped and reversed, or looped and layered; whether the production is sparse and minimalist or overwhelming and swampy; none of that changes the fact that the gentle tentativeness of her debut is gone. This is “Central European music”, at its most striking and meaningful: patient, determined, embracing both complexity and possibility.