Creating beauty and passion out of harrowing despair comes easy for Russians-in-exile VEiiLA. With immaculate electronics, slow rhythms, and female vocals flush with late-night sensuality, they craft an entwining melancholia with devastating existential lyrics. VEiiLA is pronounced “Vay-la.” It’s a stylized reference to a Baltic mountain-dwelling demon that lures men into her cave by singing and then devours them. VEiiLA’s second studio album, “Sentimental Craving For Beauty,” dwells upon the paralyzing vapors of venomous despair. This grim outlook isn’t based on mere musings of the poet’s soul. When Russia invaded Ukraine, not willing to support the ugly war, Vif Nüte (vocals + guitar) and Bes Eirid (synthesizers) packed their lives in a couple of suitcases, left their homes and embarked on a journey without destination. The anguish is contrasted by a catchy beat and sensual downtempo context.
ECHOES RADIO writes: The band has called their sound “music for introverts,” but it could just as well be music for the depressed, the forlorn and the oppressed. Nüte sings in a voice that can be fragile, sultry, domineering, sarcastic and heartbreaking. Their sound design is one of the most original I’ve heard. It’s Depeche Mode doing Twin Peaks but with a much more interesting rhythmic approach.
Selected as Echoes Radio’s September CD of the Month, VEiiLA is available from Projekt Records on all digital and streaming platforms along with a compact disc.
Stream at
https://open.spotify.com/album/2FZ5d1oU6uTLO5oE1z7V2c
or
https://music.apple.com/us/album/cant-forgive-myself-single/1694057497?ls=1&app=itunes
Stream and free download at:
https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sentimental-craving-for-beauty