GEA grounds her otherworldly fairy-folk in the densely lush Finnish forest for her latest single and video Despite — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The premiere single from the art-rocker’s forthcoming release Call for a Snake, Despite “is a song about gratitude and unconditional love for love, despite the challenges, disappointments, and hard times it provides,” GEA says. “I want to dedicate it to all the people who have been influenced by the global pandemic. We are experiencing an unusually tough period of uncertainty, fear, and loss of loved ones, or jobs, and more. I wish to reconnect us who are struggling with hope, joy, and gratitude. I hope with this song, we can celebrate our beautiful journey on Earth, regardless of our troubles.”
Speaking of trouble: “The pandemic gave us quite a bit of challenges in getting this song done,” GEA explains. The song was pre-recorded with award-winning and internationally heralded producer, singer/songwriter, sound engineer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Birkett (Sinead O’Connor, Alison Moyet, The Pogues, Bob Geldof, Buffy Sainte-Marie).
“We did this in Finland, in a small, arctic island called Hailuoto,” GEA says. “It is close to the city of Oulu, where I’m originally from. I was going to fly to Toronto in April to record the final vocals and to be part of the mixing, but it didn’t happen. I recorded the vocals remotely in Helsinki, Finland, with the help of amazing producer and friend Oona Kapari while Chris did the instrumental recordings, production and mixing in Toronto. The mastering was done by Fred Kevorkian in Brooklyn, New York, and the single visual and brand design was done by bynew.co in Tallinn, Estonia. We worked fluently between four countries, despite all being heavily influenced by the pandemic.”
Following her breakthrough debut Butterflies (2017) and sophomore follow-up Snow (2019), the song-based storyteller uses Despite to channel messages from spirit guides, laying bare notions of healing, transformation, and growth.
The track also touches on something GEA very much admires: The spirit of the swan. “Swan represents beauty, loyalty, grace, love, and elegance,” she explains. “Swan is an iconic figure in Finnish folklore, and it moves fluently between this dimension, afterlife, and other transcendental dimensions. I wrote this album after taking a bold decision to quit my job and dedicate my life to my soul mission: touch the light within people with my music. It was not an easy choice to make as a single mother … I traded the comfort of financial security into serving my purpose, and it made me happy beyond words. My songwriting changed. I call it a ‘divine downloading’ where I get my songs through channeling. The songs on Call for a Snake are about different aspects of our spiritual journey. I only understood the concept afterwards as the different parts became clear to me gradually.”
Watch Despite above, hear more of GEA’s music below and connect with her on her website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
