Anna Kairos is a singer, producer, and composer known for writing emotionally engaging songs. Her latest single song "Gloom" freshly released in December 2018 was recently featured on the prestigious Piano Day Playlist curated by Nils Frahm.
While listening to “Gloom” you instantly become drawn to the sentimental introduction and depressant aura. Anna Kairo’s vocals mesmerizes you with her hauntingly eerie high-pitched vocals that’s accompanied by a mixture of falsetto and whistle registers, blending with each other effortlessly. The melody by the piano takes the song onto its journey through melancholy and sadness while replenishing its listener with the refreshing feeling of comfort. “Gloom” completely takes over the energy of your surroundings and the feeling of discomfort you may or may not be dealing with. The hook has a nice blend of chords by the vocalist that creates a harmonically rich sound. The lyrics in gloom has high substance, however the theme of the song isn’t the surface appeal of the lyricism. “Gloom” is one of those records where you have to interpret the meaning and create the bridge between the music and yourself where you can relate to the song. You can create your own meaning, image, and story while listening to this substantial record and it’s beautiful. Anna Kairos gives her listener the freedom of expression to curate the most fitting theme for themselves. The accompanying video to the song "Gloom" she produced and created all by herself to really fulfill her vision and make no compromises. We see her dancing and moving in space, touching the earth and respecting and celebrating it in its precious vulnerability. “Gloom” is a well-crafted, and well-executed single that we can’t help but love.
Listen to "Gloom" here and get to know more about Anna Kairos below!
Many artists usually have a story behind their music and it sometimes involves their childhood! How was your upbringing like?
It was actually really beautiful. I can’t complain too much. I loved to have my siblings around and play. We lived in a village, where we could play all day on the streets and in the woods. When we visited my grandparents, my granddaddy always played the piano for us. We could choose out of his many music books, what we wanted to hear. I always loved, when he was playing us the old jazz songs and especially I loved the Ragtime, when I was little - I still love it. I always wanted to hear „The Entertainer“ by Scott Joplin - it is from 1902. (if you don’t know it, you can listen to it here: https://youtu.be/fPmruHc4S9Q) I loooved it - and especially, when my Granddaddy played it for me. That is where my love for the piano comes from, from my love to my grandfather Gerhard, who was such a splendid piano player. He played every single day - no matter what. And he was a well known scientist too, in a way the perfect Renaissance men - music, literature, science - it had all the same importance to him. I learned a lot from him - about life and about art.
Tell us about “Gloom” and the theme behind it!?
Gloom is about phases in life and in your mind, where you feel like you have a lot of questions towards yourself and the world. A feeling in which you don’t belong. Out of that feeling I wrote the song. It is of course about melancholic phases in life, but also about existential questions, like I don’t know if it is „my brain or my soul“ as I phrase it.
In what ways do you relate to “Gloom” ?
In all ways, since I wrote it and it is a song very dear to my heart. Sometimes when I feel a little gloomy myself, I like to listen to it (which I normally don’t do with my songs…) - because the song is gloomy, but not hopeless. It just gives you a break from your thoughts and you can flow within the music. The video I created for the song is also very important to me, it gives the song another layer and takes you away in a world of space, stars and dreams. Someone commented on the video, that is like „dancing with the universe“ - and I think he made the perfect point. That is the feeling I wanted to create. In the video I am touching the earth, dancing with the earth and the universe - being „part“ of it, but also „apart“ of it, since, when you are gloomy, you sometimes feel „apart“ from things. (You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/31tZkxikUzw) I also wanted to remind with the picture of the earth the unity and beauty of the planet we live on. So easy we forget about the miracles, that surround us… but there are so many and with the video I also want to remind us all to see and open our eyes…
What are some challenges you’ve faced in creating “Gloom” and how did you overcome these obstacles?
Yes, they were a few challengenes. For example, I had to find the right person to work with for the recording. I found Randall Michael Tobin (with whom I worked) via coincindence and I loved working with him. Recording can be a delicate matter. As a musician you are very vulnerable and you need the right atmoshere to deliver your best performance. As well as a young women it can be sometimes challenging to say the people of the recording studio or the venue you play in (mostly men) what you want and what you need - what is wrong and what needs to be fixed. I already got all kinds of weird looks and comments, which is really not helping for the creative process. In the end I mostly got what I needed, but you always have to convince these men somehow… and that is not what it should be. They have in they mind, that I am a young women, and I need to prove myself to them. It makes me really angray sometimes and - it is not right and it is very, very difficult in keeping your right energy in these enviroments. But for this recording experience it was the total opposite, Randall was the best and made the work so easy and beautiful!
What can we be expecting from you this summer?
I do hope a lot! My album is nearly ready to fly. All the tracks are set and I only need to do a few more recording and arrangement sessions. I also got the title of the album ready and the inspiration for the cover shot. It will be really good. There will be also a special suprise for every single I am going to release in advance of the album. Especially for my newsletter subscribers. If your are interested, go to my website: www.annakairos.com and subsribe. There will be a lot of nice suprises and wonderful artwork surrounding the release of my album. I am on my way to create new videos and artwork - and of course the songs itself. There are a few I am really proud of, since I feel I evolved in them and with them and created new sounds. So „stay tuned“ - as people say nowadays…
Connect with Anna Kairos on social media
Instagram: www.instagram.com/anna_kairos
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annakairosmusic
www.youtube.com/channel/UCOw6W8LKUdmEO1shjn7J-HA