Vinyl edition arrives early December.
Happy release day to KO:MI, new album We Said We Didn’t Know but We Knew is out today 13/11/2020 via Soliti. Of the new album Sanna Komi (KO:MI) tells us: “I began work on this album wanting to write music for weekend mornings: not depressing, but not too chipper either. It gradually turned into an outlet for anxiety caused by Things That Are Wrong In The World that I analyse in my PhD work. While the themes and subject matter are quite heavy, the album itself became pleasantly light and perhaps easier to approach than my debut. I have come to describe the compositions as associations that my brain makes after extensive listening of Philip Glass and FKA twigs.”
Listen to We Said We Didn’t Know but We Knew
We Said We Didn’t Know but We Knew is a thematic album about continuing to live and love during multiple environmental emergencies and the social injustices built in them. Its stories often concern love and relationships, but the societal backdrop, implicit at times, becomes overt and explicit by the end of the album. Amongst anger and frustration with the seeming inability of humanity to deal with climate change and growing global inequalities – an inability that especially us in the global North are irreversibly entangled in whether we have chosen so or not – there is also hope and compassion for humanity as a whole.The multi-layered violin and electronic compositions of the album are accompanied by performances from Mikko Joensuu on vocals, Suvi Linnovaara (AINON, Perussastamala 6, Tikka & Linnovaara) on clarinet and flute, Saara Viika (Café de Abejas, Phenomenal Creature) on cello and Markus Perttula (Sans Parade) on double bass and vocals. The album is produced, mixed and mastered by acclaimed producer Pasi Viitanen (Ros Red, I Was a Teenage Satan Worshipper).
Initial reaction to album and single tracks
Desibeli “Has KO: MI created one the domestic albums of the year to which future things will be compared? The competition is exceptionally fierce this year, but I think the place in the top ranks is already clear at this stage. 5/5”
Interview at Desibeli by Mika Roth
Kulttuuritoimitus “KO: MI’s album is a great musical journey where things are considered and viewed under the shelter of their own cotton clouds, yet putting emotions into play. Simplified and lingering music dares even in stormy seas. The core stays nicely in the palm of your hand all the time. 4.5/5”
Interview with Alex Minnis from Minnis2society
Nordic Music Review“…it’s a comprehensive piece. The early plucked instrumentation conjures up an oriental feel, as if they’re playing while sipping tea in an ornate Japanese garden”
Päivän Biisit“…new single We Said We Didn’t Know but We Knew will play irresistibly organically with its strings.”
SWIT “First things first, Liquid Walls is simply a beautiful song. The melody is as sweet as a nut, matched by Sanna Komi’s unadorned voice. The cello and clarinet are divine, and the angelic backing vocals all give the song a majestic quality which is quite intoxicating. Speaking of intoxication, the subject of the song is quite unusual and refreshingly open and honest.”
When You Motor Away “One moment she is a pop star cooing in your ear, the next moment she is an ambient producer, and the next a choir on Sunday morning. Dazzling and satisfying in equal measure.”
Austin Town Hall“…it’s really all about the creative elements intermingling in this cauldron of pop sensibility”
Where The Music Meets“I’ll Find My Own Way, the latest track from the Finnish’ KO:MI, is a beautiful folk contemplation that leaves us both dreamy, contemplative, and floating in the air of no concerns”
Antti X Antti – Kaksinkertainen katsaus popmusiikkiin – music podcast where KO:MI is discussed (in Finnish)
Niche Music on ‘Liquid Walls’
Päivän Biisit album recommendation
KO:MI curates the One Quart Magazine playlist
When the Horn Blows “The melody and the duet-like nature of this song makes it reminiscent of classical folk tunes that have been sung for years at campfires and near lakesides. When the string sections flood in, the song becomes tear-inducing, as though commanding us to cry or wallow in its melancholy. “
Soundi 4/5 album review “KO:MI’s unique second album exudes such a strong discovery of its own expression and artistic success that it is already accompanied by great compassion. In their lyrics, the record is flooded with vital comfort and faith for the better”
Rumba on ‘Liquid Walls‘, ‘I’ll Find My Own Way’, ‘We Said We Didn’t Know but We knew’
Watch the Hetta Inari Komi video for ‘Liquid Walls’
“‘Liquid Walls.’ is a song about social insecurities. It explores the feelings of not fitting in and fears of missing out, and how alcohol (a big taboo!) can play into this messy equation. In the end it is all about finding balance between having fun in the now and figuring out what is most meaningful in the long run, and trusting that we are enough just as we are.” Sann Komi
Watch the video for ‘We Said We Didn’t Know but We Knew ‘
“This music video portrays a dancer combatting herself. The video is inspired by 3rd person videogames and a “choose-your-quarantine-
Listen to focus track ‘Seven Things’ a duet with Mikko Joensuu
“Seven Things is an obsessive love song duetted with the most wonderful Mikko Joensuu. It explores an affection akin to addiction, where through incessant rumination the subject becomes more imaginary than real. Were the feelings there even in the first place, or was it all just a distraction from all the other shit going on in the world right now? ‘Seven Things’ is one of the oldest songs on the album. Originally I wanted to write a very classical, ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ – type of a duet, and the melody had been playing in my head for years before we started work on the album. In the end, the arrangement became something far simpler than I had envisioned – with help and insight from producer Pasi Viitanen, leaving room for the melody and the cellos played by Saara Viika. I knew I wanted it to be a duet with someone with a lower voice than mine, and Mikko with his uniquely powerful voice was the first person I thought of. The end result turned out even better than I had dared hope for!” Sanna Komi
We Said We Didn’t Know but We Knew (Soliti 084) Release date 13/11/2020
We said we didn’t know but we knew album cover
I’ll Find My Own Way
Liquid Walls
We Said We Didn’t Know but We Knew
Invisible/Invincible
Monster
Make Me Zen
Seven Things
Earth Beings
Where We Are
Credits:
Vocals, violin, songs and lyrics: Sanna Komi
Production, mixing, mastering, keyboards and backing vocals: Pasi Viitanen
Vocals: Mikko Joensuu
Flute and clarinet: Suvi Linnovaara
Cello: Saara Viika
Double bass and backing vocals: Markus Perttula
Backing vocals: Teemu Tanner
The multi-layered violin and electronic compositions of the album are accompanied by performances from Mikko Joensuu on vocals, Suvi Linnovaara (AINON, Perussastamala 6, Tikka & Linnovaara) on clarinet and flute, Saara Viika (Café de Abejas, Phenomenal Creature) on cello and Markus Perttula (Sans Parade) on double bass and vocals. The album is produced, mixed and mastered by acclaimed producer Pasi Viitanen (Ros Red, I Was a Teenage Satan Worshipper).
Sanna Komi is multi-instrumentally talented musician known from a variety of Finnish indie bands (e.g. Pintandwefall, Kynnet, Cats of Transnistria), and a global development researcher interested in human/nonhuman nature relations. Her debut album Songs of Them came out in 2017.