SEA + AIR - Evropi (2015)

600 concerts, 22 countries, three years on the road non-stop in a Europe of upheaval. A gig in Lisbon, while a demonstration next door ends in riots. Encounters with concertgoers in the Ukraine who suspect that war is imminent. Piles of money in smoky Italian club backrooms. And in the middle of it all, a Greek-German couple

Sea + Air are in the right place at the right time. This becomes clear on the tour for their debut album. There is enough first-hand material here for an album about Europe. Still on the road the work on the songs starts. What starts under countless showers and in scary hotel rooms in Europe due to a lack of music theory skills and recording possibilities, grows into a huge idea: Why not compose a complete album in your head?

The head serves as a natural sieve that separates the wheat from the chaff Only unique ideas and catchy melodies survive the night. Plus the immediate, everyday reference to Europe and Eleni's family history. The story of a journey from Asia Minor to Greece, Germany and back again

"My family doesn't know any different. Since my great-grandmother was expelled from Anatolia in 1922, my ancestors have been traveling. Whether as refugees, guest workers or musicians. Homelessness is in our genes and perhaps explains why I can't stay in one place for long," Eleni tells Sea + Air after her three-year tour

"Seeing the different faces of Europe up close on a journey like this and rediscovering oneself everywhere creates a strange tension. Just as the darkness of the past fights against the light of a possible future, the emotions experienced on this tour bring a positive inner turmoil for the new album. We had to ask ourselves: can you bring that?", Daniel sums up

After various awards, sales figures of the debut album exceeding all expectations and recently mostly sold out concerts a justified question

But if you look back to the original idea of pop, the answer is: absolutely! Pop music used to be dangerous, exciting. Pop music used to be disturbing, rebellious. That was the difference between it and pop. Even though those days are long gone, Sea + Air are not yet ready to put the raw spirit of pop music to rest. They show: Pop music can still surprise. Musically and in terms of content. Exactly this fighting spirit makes the record

In a time when music is increasingly staged and marketed as "art" by its industry, even the lyrics on Evropi seem rebellious. Simple, almost naive stories about three women in the diaspora. About those themes that are the bottom line of a life journey: love, peace and understanding. Which also closes the circle to the Schlager again. Pop music has to come from the heart after all

Sea + Air describe their music as "ghost pop." A blend of long lost Mediterranean melodies and exotic instruments that have been passed down through generations and tell their own stories. The typical Sea + Air sound of the debut - the harpsichord, the herbaceous experimentalism of the 70s, as well as tongue-in-cheek stadium rock moments in all their Germanness - is washed with all Greek waters on this album

Influenced by Pontic music and Rembetiko, traditional Greek instruments like lyra or bouzouki are used. Already the intro "We All Have To Leave Someday" invites you to an adventurous musical journey. The band experiments with Byzantine vocals and the rhythmic and emotional freedom of a centuries-old musical tradition, which is captured by Eleni's enraptured voice in "Flowers From The Distance" in particular

Playing with extremes and gender roles is something Sea+ Air like to take to the extreme. Daniel's falsetto and Eleni's androgynous voice sometimes confuse the listener. It remains cryptic who is singing on tracks like "Mercy Looks Good On You" or "HaHaHaHaHa".

The orchestral "Lady Evropi" proves to be a prophetic vision on Greece's current situation, describing its ambivalent relationship with Europe. With a playful lightness and emotional weight, including a refusal to please everyone, the Greek-German couple have succeeded in creating a continental European work beyond any categorization with their second album. Despite its idiosyncrasy and self-confident distance from Anglo-American influences, it reaches international pop listeners with catchy numbers like "Should I Care" or "Peace Begins At Home", which every child sings along to when their parents hear it on the radio.

Tracklist:
1.01 - SEA + AIR - We All Have to Leave Someday (5:56)
1.02 - SEA + AIR - Follow Me Me Me (2:31)
1.03 - SEA + AIR - Should I Care? (4:37)
1.04 - SEA + AIR - Mercy Looks Good on You (3:22)
1.05 - SEA + AIR - Peace Begins at Home (4:01)
1.06 - SEA + AIR - The One I Love (Misery) (3:06)
1.07 - SEA + AIR - Flowers from the Distance (2:08)
1.08 - SEA + AIR - Pain Is Just a Cloud (5:41)
1.09 - SEA + AIR - Lady Evropi (4:58)
1.10 - SEA + AIR - Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha (3:24)
1.11 - SEA + AIR - We Understand You (4:40)
1.12 - SEA + AIR - You Are (5:49)