Release Date: August 26, 2022
via Sony Music Germany
If ever there were two artists who appear to have been put into this world in order to one day collaborate with each other, it has got to be alyona alyona and Jerry Hail - two female Ukrainian music artists, celebrated for their creative take on integrating folklore songs into contemporary tracks and applying ancient sayings, tales, and morals to very current, often political, topics.
Anyone who’s experienced them working together on previous tracks like “Ridni moi”, “Chomu?”, “Molytva”, and most recently “Kupala” together with the German vocalist ela., could arguably say that it was really only a question of time before they released an entire EP together, and alas, the time has come! “Dai Boh” (EN: “God bless”) is the title of their EP as well as the name of one of the tracks featured on it. All four songs are based on Ukrainian folk songs and created in collaboration with various European artists, providing them with a modern sound that can definitely hold its own in a predominantly pop-oriented, even mainstream, soundscape. Among them are Gedz, a Polish rapper, on the melodic rap ballad “Viter viie” (“The wind is blowing”), the lithuanian singer and songwriter Monika Liu, who represented Lithuania at the European Song Contest 2022, on the title track “Dai Boh”, Ginger Mane, an indie rapper from Latvia on “Zozulia” (“Cuckoo”) and lastly the above mentioned ela., on the previously released single “Kupala”.
About “Dai Boh” the EP, alyona alyona says: Jerry, Vanek Klymenko, and I, having arrived in Europe and started our tour, decided that now more than ever, it is very important and relevant to integrate Ukrainian folk music into European music. And to show the world our harmonies and our melodies, raising important truths of life in the tracks. One of these truths is very strongly revealed in the track "Dai Boh" ("God grand"). That is why we chose this name for our EP because even before the world was created, there was love. And we firmly believe that it is love that will save the world. And love will unite all people on earth, and it is the light that will definitely defeat the darkness.
Our EP contains tracks that share our emotions and experiences of today. This is sadness and joy, trust and gratitude, doubt and fear, and the most important thing is boundless faith in our victory. The artists with whom we teamed up on this album are from different European countries but together with us, they equally believe in our victory.”
“Our goal is to make the sound of Ukrainian music familiar to European listeners. As familiar as Spanish or Korean music now. To enrich world music with Ukrainian one and to expand the boundaries of Ukrainian culture. “Dai Boh” is an ancient Ukrainian song about the creation of the world. A myth set to music. In my verse, I invite the listener to imagine: what if the creation of the world took place on the territory of Ukraine,” Jerry Heil adds.
And finally Monika Liu comments on the collab: “First of all, I would like to thank alyona alyona and her team for the offer to make this joint track, and not only because I support Ukraine with all my heart but also because I have been watching alyona alyona for a long time and I really like what she creates. Creativity is something that can not be taken away from us... Today, as never before, joint music has its purpose, it gives us the opportunity not to be silent but to speak loudly about our position and our support for Ukraine. Dai Boh! (God bless!) This is a hope/request/prayer, which in this track sounds especially powerful in two languages in three voices. I am confident that this track will find a place in the hearts of both Lithuanian and Ukrainian listeners. This is undoubtedly an important work for me personally.”
“Dai Boh” the EP, by alyona alyona, Jerry Heil and four other featuring artists, will be released via Sony Music Germany on August 26, 2022.
TRACKLIST
1. alyona alyona & Jerry Heil & Gedz - Viter viie
2. alyona alyona & Jerry Heil & Monika Liu - Dai Boh
3. alyona alyona & Jerry Heil & ela. - Kupala
4. alyona alyona & Jerry Heil & Ginger Mane - Zozulia
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