With the spring solstice upon us, the world's most influential power players are making big moves. Returning with the follow-up to 2019's conceptual craft of majesty Factory Pageant is NYC by way of Toronto pop art designer of future musical fashions Annika Zee with the new album Blue. A joint release by Absurd TRAX with Vain Mina Records, the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music alum continues to challenge the tropes of style and concept of superstar with an azure saturated statement of unrelenting autonomy. Akin to fellow contemporaries Agua Viva, Zenizen to Luxe / S the Supplicant conceptual provocateur Sally Horowitz; Zee works in the new emergent art spaces that redefines how we see, hear and experience aesthetics. Redefining what it means to be an artist. Breaking the antiquated and obsolete pantheon pillars of preconceived cultural prejudices and gender biases, Annika elevates art and authorship to new enlightened levels and heightened hues of colors that have yet to be assigned with a name or corresponding signifier. Picking up where Factory Pageant left off; Annika Zee once again pushes past the tired shows of pageantry and mechanical motions to paint on new canvases from new palettes to embody the presence of a new kind of iconoclast for a new era of new discoveries.

Bleu begins with sophisticated electric whirling atmospheres and jazz trio trip hop beats on the opener "Miles", emulating the body and mind awakening experience of an early morning jog. The modern fashion house dub "Fly" soars across the terrains of today's tedious times, meditating on self-examinations of the self and pondering the nature of fierce and fleeting attractions. "Be Like That" turns the conventions of sultry and sinewy r&b inside out, smoking like a lit slim Sherman smoldering in the carved groove of an exquisite lead crystal ashtray on the table of a rooftop terrace in the city on a humid summer night. Delivering some of the most understated grooves that draw from the global almanacs on the history of modern pop on every track, "Slate" manages to convey an elaborate and complex arrangement through a meticulously refined acid jazz lens that re-imagines what lounge productions can be. "Pavement" takes the patriarchy down a peg, offering a combination of lamentations over systemic adversarial oppression and projections with a strong sense of resolve that rises above the asphalt for new arenas of limitless opportunity with no ceiling.

Zee's genre defying talent for blending and fusing new jazz rhythms and note progressions can be found galore, through the pensive straits of "Underwater Debt", confronting the agents of adversity on "Push" that hinder the independence of artistry, liberty and spirit of the creative visionary. "Wound" nurses the hurt in a big beat ode to healing, that crafts a cathartic response of love in the face of conflicts and traumas that pours out all lingering traces of anguish. Bleu is a record of many things. A distillation of Annika Zee reworking the academies of jazz, lounge, drum & bass and more through a radically tailored and trademarked rhythmic production. Bleu is statement to move the creative conversation beyond the gatekeepers and paternal/fraternal canons of self-celebrating mediocrity. Bleu is a celebration of culture. Bleu is a testament to a new tier of artistry independent from the pretenses of the past that showcases Annika Zee reshaping the constructs of rhythms, blues, drums and bass for something completely different and new.

Annika Zee’s introduction to Bleu

The album is a reflection of where I’ve been mentally, navigating the concept of having a broader perspective, says Annika...being a person of mixed race has taught me to see from opposing perspectives, which has brought about some inner turmoil, but has also helped me learn that having these deeper conversations across racial lines is where we can achieve real change. Having these conversations doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your own culture but how can we lift up those who are oppressed to live their truth freely?

The title Bleu was inspired by Kieslowski’s film Three Colors: Blue in which Julie, a strong female composer, processes her grief after the death of her husband. I felt like Bleu captured my state of moving beyond the lens of putting others' acceptance first, of growing out of codependency and toxic feminine societal programming. It is about independence, freedom, and empowerment...the liberty of oneself and others. A spiritual map for those who know how to read it correctly.

I was inspired by Blue the film because it showcases a strong female lead with a talent for composition ⁠— classical female composers have always intrigued me as they tend to be overlooked throughout history, a personal favorite of mine is Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, I also have a strong love for Asian composers such as Ryuichi Sakamoto or Isao Tomito. I always like showcasing female figures that write beyond the lens of heartbreak / seduction or if they do tap into these energies it is more nuanced or showcases metamorphosis of some sort ⁠— the ebbs and flows of the female psyche. I think in this more nuanced expression there is more inherent liberation because it challenges the notion of female stereotypical personalities portrayed in mainstream media and Hollywood. Any liberation of clichés allows the listener to challenge notions of themselves which in turn helps them have a wider perspective. There is no right way of being but it can't hurt to write from a point of view that is distinctly your own.

Annika Zee’s inspirations

Mica Levi x OPN A24 Interview - Mica Levi's score for Under the Skin

Musicians:

Massive Attack

Tracey Thorn

LTJ Bukem

Goldie

Björk

Sade

Broadcast

DJ Swisha

Hito Steyerl, “How Not to be Seen”

Satoshi Kon as an anime director ⁠— Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, Paranoia Agent

Comme Des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo

Annika Zee’s Bleu arrives June 10 via Absurd TRAX with Vain Mina