From Madrid to Britain, the singer-songwriter and actress Annie Balmori highlights the emotional intro track, "Requiem," off of her debut EP, 'Unafraid.'
Bringing Spanish vibes and sounds to the rainy shores of Britain, Annie Balmori graduated from the prestigious Drama School of Murcia and later studied opera in Prague before touring in Spain. After experimenting with sounds of funk and electronic, Annie Balmori felt compelled to include more traditional Spanish influences in her music.
Expanding on the intro track and lead single, "Requiem," off of her debut EP, 'Unafraid,' Annie Balmori mentioned that this piece offers a magnetic feeling of rebirth, similar to the EP's accompanying two tracks. Fueling her powerful melodies with Spanish-infused sounds and techniques, Annie Balmori makes us feel nothing but at home through the song's tenderness and heart.
"Requiem" opens with hefty drum breaks, a vibrant string section, soulful piano melodies, and Annie Balmori's emotionally-charged vocal portrayal. As she begins singing of feeling broken and hopeless after a relationship, she powers through with resilience and pushes the hook with intense vibes through her striking and powerful delivery.
The surrounding sonics offer an emotional and heartfelt tone through their natural delicacy, primarily through the tender piano melodies and floating string section that sings us into a sweet slumber. What wakes us up is Annie Balmori's compelling performance, exuding empowerment from all aspects for her audience to keep pushing.
Cry your heart out with Annie Balmori's striking and emotional release, "Requiem," off of her debut 3-track EP, 'Unafraid.' Find the EP and single on all digital streaming platforms.
We love the passion and power you’ve delivered through your single, “Requiem". What pushed you to create this emotion-evoking piece?
Requiem is about remembering those who one day meant something for us, those who broke our heart and now are gone. It is about honoring our mistakes for the last time, and be able to say goodbye. It is not a particular case that inspired this song but a compilation of many along with my life. Like some, I got my heart broken a thousand times so I decided to ‘take’ all those memories and turned them into art. There was never a sad motivation or feeling behind this song.
Did you write your lyrics yourself for your single “Requiem?" What did you want your audience to take away from the song’s lyrical content?
“Requiem” is indeed the first song I wrote for “Unafraid” and I can certainly say it’s got all of me into it. I believe inspiration particularly smiled to me when writing its lyrics because it almost felt like a torrent, something you can’t stop in a way. It all just happened really nice and naturally. I did not want to go for a sweet romantic topic, I really wanted the first song to be fierce, passionate, and empowering. To represent me, with all my contradictions and fears, as well as everyone else who ever went through the same as I did. I wanted to inspire them and give them strength. I wanted for all of them to listen to it and think: “This is my song!“, more than anything else.
Seeing as you described your EP, 'Unafraid,' as a magnetic feeling of rebirth, how does your single “Requiem” honor that statement?
If we look at the three tracks with a bit of perspective, we can see that they happen chronologically along with the same storyline; almost as if they were three chapters of the same book. “Hurricane” would represent the euphoria of being in love. “Requiem” the death of the broken heart that somehow continues beating. And “Spaceships” would mean the ‘afterlife’, then moving on when you are finally free and it hurts no more. I have been through some really bad times in my life and I can say that the whole meaning of “Requiem” utterly relates to my own storyline. To me, it means resurrection from death and rebirth from the ashes, like the Phoenix. No matter how bad things were, there was always my vital strength to help me pull through.
What was it like working with the production team AudioHaus for your EP, and more specifically, your single “Requiem?” How did they help incorporate the Spanish vibes you were going for?
My experience with AudioHaus was simply great. Will was a fantastic person to create with and on many occasions knew what I was looking for almost before I even said it. We connected really well from the very beginning and it made the creative process easy and enjoyable, both for “Requiem” and the rest of the songs. He also nailed it at bringing those “Spanish vibes” in, most particularly into “Hurricane”. He thought it would be great to introduce a Spanish guitar along with the song and this way incorporate a part of my Spanish background. The result was great! The guitar gave the song a fantastic fresh touch, yet still delicate and romantic. I think we made a really good decision.
What can we expect to see next from you?
'Unafraid' was a really personal work, totally connected to my personal life experience. That’s how I wanted it to be and I’d never have done it otherwise. But I believe the artist’s task is also to try and change the world through their music; so for my next project, I would definitely be open to contemplating some other important topics in the world and the society. For instance, the LGBTQ community, which I am strongly involved with, among others. I would love to create a song just to cherish them, a song that was very summery and colorful. A song to celebrate and perhaps to dance to! I never truly stop imagining new projects or creating new songs so.. we shall see!
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