WL//WH Premiere SHE OWL
Photo by @giorgioviolino
Formed in San Francisco, the currently Leipzig-based nomadic Italian duo She Owl has ceaselessly enchanted audiences throughout Europe and North America for the last five years, supporting renowned artists such as Brendan Perry and Cat Power and playing almost three hundred shows across twenty-one countries.
Throughout several albums and an EP release, the group has developed a unique and beguiling sound that melds Dream-Pop and Dark Indie stylings with soulful, haunting vocals and cinematic arrangements.
Photo by @giorgioviolino
Vocalist, pianist, and primary songwriter Jolanda Moletta is front and center in both the band’s recordings and live shows. Moletta’s striking three-octave range and vocal dexterity are matched by her skills as a multi-instrumentalist (she is also responsible for all the loops, percussion, and extra layers in the band’s sound). Alongside her, Demian Endian, besides adding backing vocals and harmonies, contributes inventive and enigmatic guitar lines that hint at psychedelic, no-wave, and experimental influences.
Photo by @giorgioviolino
Less introspective and more ethereal than Brian Eno’s original but at the same time more unsettling, with heavier frequencies and hollow heartbeats to invoke the discomfort of the lyrical conflict. She Owl uses a combination of poignant and vibrant twinkling guitar strings along with abrasive and softly cutting orchestral swathes over subtle keyed melodies, whilst a light whispery at times granular and mournful unison male-female vocal harmony, perfectly captures the tension of a once intimate couple standing by a river, feeling lost and disconnected.
A thought-provoking video by Jolanda Moletta herself sets breathtaking aerial views of nature’s slowly shifting seasons under the deeply evocative pensive eyes of Jolanda and Demian to sync with the bittersweet sentiment of the soundtrack. Just like the Earth’s natural cycles of death and rebirth, sometimes relationships cool, offering dormant snowy introspections, then change into the warm, vibrant, and uplifting moods, typically associated with romance.
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