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Zoe Leela Details   Albums  

 


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DIGITAL GUILT Period 2011 -

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“When it can’t be done, do it. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t exist.“ Orson Wells

In this vein an album comes into being, an album that turns old lady zeitgeist on her head because it doesn’t sound like a product of the industry. Instead, it has the effect of music that could be made anywhere in the world, with the right people and without classical structures and major compromise.. Thanks to digitalism.

ZOE.LEELA’s first full length album DIGITAL GUILT celebrates the digital age, yet simultaneously raises a questions about it, as is clear from the title. Do we have the present day information overload that we all face under control, or does it control us? Is the rift between reality and the digital society placing us in a position of moral responsibility, challenging us with a fight against an unremitting world that forgives and forgets nothing? “Actions are visible,” a line from ZOE.LEELA’s song Come On, addresses this dilemma.

The new reality: is it a doctrine of salvation or a utopia from yesteryear? While some proclaim the web to be an ahistorical hydra, which at best serves as a sort of domesticator, ZOE.LEELA is fascinated with the creative energy and cultural freedom within the digital sphere. With the strong conviction that creativity is there for everyone, ZOE.LEELA decided to release her debut EP Queendom Come for free on the Cologne-based internet label Rec72.net. Foregoing the stress and limitations of dealing with major labels and distribution, her release made a splash. In the first month alone, the EP was downloaded 34,000 times. International radio airplay, interviews with the press and a tour of Germany followed. Advertizing deals were also made. In retrospect, Queendom Come was a time of orientation within the digital world and finding oneself musically. “At first I tried out various producers and musicians, looking for my own sense of expression“ says ZOE.LEELA. “With DIGITAL GUILT, I pushed the boundaries and finally found it.“

As a whole, the album is more mature, elaborate, and presents itself in a new complexity. Pounding Drum & Bass meets drifting grooves, elements of jazz, dub, intoxicating melodies. Embellished by ZOE.LEELA’s personal and poignant voice, the music rouses a physical reaction. Her experimentation with various musical styles becomes evident; from swing to hip hop and jazz, the artist remains poised and certainly delivers. “I like to play with identities and am not trying to offer the presentation of something calculable or predictable.“
This is how an idiosyncratic mix of songs like Pop-Up, a brilliantly simple pop piece, or Violet, with it’s enrapturing sexiness, slowly unfolds and gives the album depth and originality. She Rides, Homicide and Jewell offer a mix of brutality, abrasiveness, charm and imaginativeness.

The first single Come On is garnished with contorted sounds and is an emotional climax, where the singer and her producer Noah Felk serve up a duo of harmonic perfection. The song smacks of dismal? (how about desolate?) 80s dream-pop, but with a fresh and contemporary twist. While influences from the land of broken, fragmented beats aren’t to be denied, the album might be too soft to be categorized as Hardcore Electronic or Drum and Bass, which means that it actually falls into the Pop genre.

Zoe finds her company within a circle of movers and shakers that are musicians, photographers, film makers, designers and authors, to name a few. Together they have turned the ZOE.LEELA project into something truly unique. The beginning of 2011 marks the onset of a live band including Pascal Gemmer on drums, Dominik Kenzler on guitar, and Patrick Kenzler on bass. Together, they have created a new musical force that allows ZOE.LEELA to flourish in her most natural environment: the stage.

To be continued…

Press Material via: theword@zoeeleela.com

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QUEENDOM COME Period 2009- 2011:

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With the release of my debut E.P. QUEENDOM COME, we released all the tracks under a Creative Commons license that allows any private person to download and share the songs for free. Besides the great opportunity to make my voice heard the experiment got even more interesting through taking things into our own hands.
TOMPiGS.COM (who has been joining me on this journey ever since) and me felt right from the beginning that worrying about new copyright laws or new licensing schemes or new ways to shut down file sharing is counterproductive. Instead, we want to let the magic of the market continue to work and embrace what the web allows and the space for innovation and creativity that the Internet is. Contrary to the massive system that regulates creativity, we were thrilled to deliver free culture to help balance between anarchy and control. And we have been generously awarded by a huge media feedback and by you, who downloaded QUEENDOM COME 34,000 times within the first four weeks after its release _& keeps on doing so (the number has constantly been growing). We thank you so much, because it gives us sparks, keeps us moving and feeds our passion.

Currently my team (… the notorious Noah Felk …) and I are spending time with creating my 1st album ever! This is an amazing experience and I can’t wait to share it with all of you soon. Building up to its release, however, we DEEPEN THE MYSTERY.

Zoe.So.Far _have respect but mainly have fun!


Country: Germany

Genre:  Hip Hop, Pop

URL:  www.zoeleela.com





 


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