The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

Posted: 06 Sep 2011 12:04 AM PDT

Gone are the days of YouTube videos for the ukulele-playing Sarawakian artiste Zee Avi.

The petite 25-year-old is brimming with confidence with the release of her new sophomore album, Ghostbird, named after her fascination for owls. Welcoming the Malaysian press via web conferencing from the Universal Office in New York, one can tell she has made a household name for herself not only in Malaysia but overseas too.

The chanteuse seems destined for fame as she talks passionately, and with fervour about her new album, saying the lyrics were inspired from her own personal self reflection and introspection. At the preview listen, Avi says: "I want people to feel like they're being hugged when they listen to the record." In her sultry, alto voice, Avi gives a clear message of the passion underlying all her songs.

So, is there any story progression on the album? "Yes, definitely. The reason why it starts with the song Swell Window is because it's kind of like a mission call. Like I always say, this is more than art, this is a mission. The whole concept of the album is, I see it as from sunset to sunrise. The progression of the track listing was curated properly and very much with love from me and Mario Caldato so it's very much finesse in a way; it's very in sync with the sunset to sunrise. The songs are progressed that way," she explains.

Swell window is a surfer's term for the perfect wave. Once the perfect swell comes, that whole window, you have to charge through every drop of wave. "The song is about seizing the moment, living in the now. I read somewhere about universal consciousness. One of the lines there reads, "We're all riding the same waves". We're going through the same things. This song is very important because it's the start of another chapter in my life," she says.

The album Ghostbird translates to 'burung hantu', or owl in Bahasa Malaysia. Avi explains she has always been attracted to the mythological and symbolism of the 'burung hantu". "Wisdom, mystique, observation was basically the three formulas I had in mind while writing the record. And I'm a nocturnal creature too," she says.

Almost half of the songs on the album were written in the sunny state of Florida where she stayed for three months. "I was on a boat and and that's where I wrote it. Later, I was at the studio everyday for two week to do the recording. Some songs were written in my Brooklyn kitchen. When you listen to the whole record, you can tell from the different vibes," she smiles.

What she talks passionately about is also about Floridian folk artiste Morris Johnson, whom she met while she was writing for the album. "There was such an appeal to his work, such a sort of innocent quality to it. I think there's a lot more philosophical view of how you view things. I've always been trying to not see the world through negative lens. That's how the song The Book Of Morris Johnson came about," she says.

There's also 31 Days In June, which was inspired by a friend. "We were talking about our experiences moving to New York. He's a young guy and he told me, "I was homeless last year for 31 days in June" and I was like, "There's only 30 days in June, what are you talking about?" and he said, "Well, it felt like 31 days."

This song is about trying to find your place in new surroundings. "It's about trying to find a place to call home and I mixed it up with my experience when I moved to London in 2004," she says.

Avi moved on to talk about writing Siboh Kitak Nangis (Don't You Cry). It's a song she has been waiting to write for a very long time now. "I've always wanted to write a song in Bahasa Sarawak and I did it! It just took the right moment, the right time, and the right place. I'm very proud of it," she says.

We ask if she would return home for a tour and she immediately replies: "Definitely. I hassle my manager every day. It might happen end of this year actually. I'll be coming back then and I promise fans a bigger, better performance this time," she concludes.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Selasa, 6 September 2011

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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