Soukou wipes your Nickname from her memory in her new single and video — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
An addictive hit of lush dance-pop, the Berlin singer-songwriter’s latest release comes from her new EP Bloodline. But even though the EP stands as the most personal work of her two-decade career, Nickname might not be about what you’d expect.
“Nickname is not about a love affair gone bad,” she reveals. “It’s not a romantic song. A person who was extremely close to me just blocked me — pretended that I no longer existed. Threw the nastiest words at me, only to end up pretending that nothing ever happened. When there is no communication and everything is simply swept under the carpet, when the once dearest person suddenly no longer has a nickname and becomes a stranger to you — that’s what I sing about in Nickname.”
The artist started out in her hometown with gospel and hip-hop, then conquered the clubs of Berlin as Ena Wild with techno and electro beats in 2007 at the tender age of 19. Soukou’s musical palette remains broad: She works as a songwriter for hit and pop productions, has toured with circus productions whose soundtrack she wrote, played international stages and released a one-take acoustic album entitled A Color. Her pop roots of the ’90s still shape her style, and the label pop remains a compliment for the Berlin singer.
With Bloodline, Soukou strikes more private notes. We are no longer dealing with a girl who ran away with the circus, but with a woman who is not afraid to deal with complex issues, to create new things and deconstruct the old. The songs on the EP all revolve around one theme: family. It deals with the question to what extent we can detach ourselves from our socialisation, how love without communication turns into hate and asks the question whether the next generation can be freer if we manage to detach ourselves from our traumas today.
Watch the video for Nickname above, listen to Bloodline below, and follow Soukou on Facebook and Instagram.
