Longing Louisa is the new project from Reetta Hotti.
Debut album Waterphile announced – title track released as first taste
Soliti is delighted to welcome Longing Louisa to their artist label family.
Reetta Hotti has been releasing music under her own name for the past few years – but Longing Louisa explores a different side to Reetta’s music. The debut album Waterphile – to be released at the end of October 2025 – is a self described “ode to water.” Reetta continues “For me, water is the most fascinating and intriguing element, and I’m always somehow drawn to it wherever I go. That’s how the term waterphile came to my mind. I also found out that in chemistry there actually is a term hydrophile, which implies “a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to water molecules and tends to be dissolved by water” (wikipedia). Water of course serves also as a symbol – of what, I won’t explicate here. This album for me is kinda like the Mermaid’s tale in reverse. It’s dedicated to all you other waterphiles out there.”
“Waterphile” is both the opening track as well as the title track of Longing Louisa’s debut album – and is, as well, the debut single from Longing Louisa.”Waterphile” single will be released on the 22nd August.
Listen to “Waterphile”
Lyrics, composer, production, instruments: Reetta Hotti
Recording: Miika Varonen (acoustic piano) and Reetta Hotti (vocals, synths, samples)
Mixing: Julius Mauranen
Mastering: Virtalähde Mastering
“Waterphile” gets its name from the actual word hydrophile, which means “a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to water molecules and tends to be dissolved by water. “For me this is a highly visual song. I see all kinds of water-related creatures here coming from different directions, I see a shoreline and the air/sky having almost a mint shade, the dark, deep water and the waterbed and the eerie silence of it, and me in the midst of it all.” Reetta explains.
Initial Reaction
Waterphile single cover art Heli Lundstrom
Longing Louisa: Waterphile (Soliti 120)
Release date: 31st October 2025
Longing Louisa Waterphile album sleeve by Anu Leppäharju (photo) Reetta Hotti (graphics/editing)
1. Waterphile
2. Old tricks
3. Blue Moon
4. Cabin talk
5. Hatchet
6. Cavities & You
7. (My head was once filled with unsteady vortices)
8 .Marathon
9. I could try to reach you
10. (How to dissolve completely)
Produced by Reetta Hotti
Recorded by Reetta Hotti: vocals, synths, samples, percussion (track 2 and 9), violins (track 9)
Recorded by Miika Varonen: piano, electric guitars, bass guitar and acoustic drums (track 3)
All instruments Reetta Hotti except drums on Blue Moon (track 3) by Oskari Järvinen
Recorded at Lammaskallion Audio and Studio Kekkonen (acoustic drums on track 3) by Miika Varonen and at home by Reetta Hotti.
Mixed by Julius Mauranen
Mastered by Jaakko Viitalähde/Virtalähde mastering
Reetta discusses the themes and the making of Waterphile
“This album is an ode to water. For me, water is the most fascinating and intriguing element, and I’m always somehow drawn to it wherever I go. That’s how the term waterphile came to my mind.
Waterphile album was made mainly in solitude. I quit my job, barely saw anyone, just used hours and hours playing and learning new stuff about sound synthesis etc, made notes, watched a hundred editorials from youtube, started to write Morning Pages, read books, went for long walks, listened to almost no other music than my demos since somehow I had no space for it in my head; Just completely dove into my own universe and stayed there for a year. I wanted to produce the album by myself, and it was such a joy doing it. I knew I wanted the piano to have an essential role in the album, and it feels right to have it as a companion in every song. But it felt so nice to also “dip into the synth pool” – I had so much fun experiencing it.
Piano, electric guitars, bass guitar and acoustic drums are recorded by Miika Varonen in Lammaskallion Audio and Studio Kekkonen (drums on track 3). I had this “genius” idea that I would play all the instruments on the record – except for the drums, which were played by the wonderful Oskari Järvinen on track 3. So the studio sessions we’re _quite_ intense, but I made my own bed and couldn’t escape lying in it, haha. After that during the summer 2024 I recorded all the rest in my home studio: Synths, vocals and a few random things. The album was wonderfully finished off by Julius Mauranen (mixing) and Jaakko Viitalähde / Virtalähde mastering.
I loved every second of making this album, and I’m so proud of the end result. I wanted to give the songs all the space and time they needed, so the duration differs from average pop music in that sense also. I think it’s an interesting combination of electronic indie, art pop and ambient. I hope people will get to hear it and find themselves floating somewhere, amidst a beautiful fog and all the shades of blue.”
Upcoming shows
26th Sept. Lost In Music Festival, O’Connell’s, Tampere
Longing Louisa photographed by Anu Leppäharju
Longing Louisa bio
“I’ve always been prone to the feeling of longing. I think I’ve spent most of my life living someplace else than the present. I’ve longed for the past, the future or an alternative reality. It’s probably a way to escape anything uneasy happening in real life. Melancholic feeling, or the japanese idiom “mono no aware” to be more precise, is what Longing Louisa is about. The music has all the shades of blue, there’s fogg, blurriness, some city lights, hollow and dull-like sounds, but also slowly growing intensity, small changes that every now and then lead to a massive gathering of clouds.”