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SURRIJA

by Surrija

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1.
Nothing Love 04:00
December came and you made it cold Despite me trying to start a fire with snow at your window It takes time i know there’s just so much we can gain A day a grain a page and a spoonful Have you fed us enough today, here’s my nothing love It’s been better when spring came the sun is high Though to let go does not make you simple Ceasefire we’re breathing but did it to your head Goodwill could block all the thunder Have i fed us enough, here’s my nothing love Uh oh. oh well. is that my heart that got dropped on the floor Uh oh don’t be so guarded, so long’s your hands are tied Forget about it What d’ya say could you give me that again you’re mumbling babe Do what you say keeping your word ain’t so easy The years of definitely maybe you lost me there babe Playing god talking loud like a crazy Have i fed us enough gonna offer the scraps in your pocket They say you’re pretty and right most days Here’s my nothing love, nothing trying Is that my heart that got dropped on the floor where you started Oh no don’t be so guarded So long’s you hands are tied you got your reasons So close forget about it
2.
Barcelona 03:30
Honey and sugar like mere bread and water It’s all i knew Dreaming the sweet on you soon someday when I have no clue Dorner me against the wall Let them hear these empty hall Cutting wish to watch your eyes Steal me through your years to spy I’ll be waiting in Barcelona Play like a child He said always remember the maids i knew Somewhere between truth and dare It’s just good faith and follow thru Push me up against your mind Let me hear the things you find Peel the curtain call the light Promise you’ll drink every lin I’ll be waiting in barcelona I’ll be dreaming behind the cinder I’l be waiting in barcelona I’ll be dreaming
3.
Sylvette 04:18
Sylvette I couldn’t find you You’re stone I’m breath you breathe me out Like a slip of a tongue in a crowd I lean into your hairline My tension in your chin down eyes up A dare to my brush in forty tries It shines a gap into your eyes You can see can you see if i’m alive You run circles around my lies You can see can you see through every line Papa said, “put your tail up” This minute and for a while Papa said, “put your tail up” Sylvette I couldn’t find you But i think i need you now What a fight every turn Step back from the fault line You wrap me up and show me how You’re a dare to my brush in forty tries You’re blinding me inside What you see can you see You tame my every lie You can see you can see thru
4.
Minotaur 03:47
He was taken, want to understand Caught the light and gone to look for the upper hand And the moment gone and every is the only one Behind the terror Where the gentle lives Breathing heavy always counting on the scars And open wounds She knows Those lilies and nightlight Here we go She changes everything “Come here, come here Am i enough? What is enough?” Reaching out now trying to understand How to know which one allows the time and second chance With better luck where every piece but nothing all at one A storm that came that gave us wind to sail
5.
6.
Gilot 05:33
Awhile you’ve been here With gaps and waiting Missed a couple of summer And i know it’s hard to tear yourself away Yea i hear the ovation for you But I catch you with my black light Still it’s easy to give yourself away Her hair goes on and on my god! this house goes on You think there’s plenty locks to not miss much Then you’re wrong Steady hand to help this day while gravity plays Fall fall… just walk it off You could be here with history waiting Keep still for a moment ‘Cause i know you and all you want to take I see you through your loops and endings Sweet wreckage awaiting It’s hard but i will walk away
7.
Bet your life I know by now it’s hit & miss with me i got backfire One takes all Russian doll but hesitation tiny she knows better You’re a callbox empty full of chains Shiny, combed, buttoned up your claim to fame Cold chin staged urgent holiday Backwards straight-line never did looks the same Turnstile hostile temperamental We lined up for your blows Arms up gun point my anger hollowed Can’t feel the quiet it’s time to go One day it’s December cold then Suddenly she’s nineteen project Fester Danger mode robot bold He called you tameless black-eye bitch Reset her But he builds up and she builds out they’re not the same The token doll inside you says done well by your name Put it down the street fight’s out just walk away Sober sedated just another day Must now don’t ever good enough to make a difference Stop your crying aren’t i good enough Kill the confidence just keep silent suddenly
8.
Dora 04:26
Crumpled collar met my eye so glorious and trite Hust an impression Old suit three years too wise Leads to crumpled temper steal my smile Sometimes miss the danger sound. Oh lover Empty-handed show and tell another sacrifice A lost confession of my muse too wise Leads to empty bedroom take my life Miss the burning blood so bright remember? Hold my tongue and hold on tight Lights across my eyes this is my living This whole of us the hollow hours Missing body heat so wild. Oh lover You introduced me to your war I learned a lot keep folding it in Take care of the dark Knife between the roses on the table top The blood i kept and promised Like a dream come true You’re a dream come true Crumpled collar met my eye So glorious and trite Just an impression Old suit three years too wise Leads to crumpled temper steal my smile Sometimes miss the danger sound. Oh lover
9.
Mercy Street 03:36
Looking down on empty streets, all she can see Are the dreams all made solid Are the dreams all made real All of the buildings, all of those cars Were once just a dream In somebody's head She pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam She pictures a soul With no leaks Lets take the boat out Wait until darkness Let's take the boat out Nowhere in the corridors of pale green and grey Nowhere in the suburbs In the cold light of day There in the midst of it so alive and alone Words support like bone Dreaming of mercy st Wear your inside out Dreaming of mercy In your daddy('s arms again Dreaming of mercy st 'Swear they moved that sign Dreaming of mercy In your daddy's arms
10.
Semibelieve 04:39
Waiting for your exit so there’s no between It’s too late spider cracks thirteen Pain like stone but water soft and can corrode Can always use better men to move my mountain slow Semi the fire semi the beast Semi the lie semi believe Half of the more, stay put as a crier Half of the creed, get good as a liar Charm and smile birds and bees a good disease Towel’s dry, ready - cry and keep Brother witness tragic courtroom breakable He may turn into you but i will keep it slow Semi the you, semi the he Semi the i, semi the beast Half of the more, stay put as a crier Half of the seed, semi believe
11.
h u m 00:31
12.
Almost Time 03:17
Well it’s almost time Maybe you’ll get lucky At least in my mind No answers for I know I’d lose But i can say ‘least I tried so I can hide Funny how after all it’s unlearning That gives lesions a cure Too many broken words and carpet burns To cope as a child terrified No where to hide. hide inside We’ve gotten so good at fill in the blank Make sense of the night April and august they go hand in hand And put up a fight Funny how after all it’s unlearning That gives lesions a cure too many Broken words to cope terrified Well it’s almost time maybe you’ll get lucky At least in my mind No answers for I know i’d lose But i can say ‘least I tried ‘cause i can’t hide

about

Written to portraits of Marie-Therese Walter, Françoise Gilot, Sylvette David, and Dora Maar, by Picasso. Voiced from the women.

Barcelona - Le Rêve (The Dream)
Sylvette - Sylvette 1954
Minotaur - La Minotauromachie 1935
Gilot - Portrait of Françoise 1946
Dora - Head of a Woman 1939

Whenever I write, I tend to focus on dad for a number of songs before moving on to other topics. It was a manipulative love hate abusive relationship that made no sense but that I deeply understand. I have vivid memories of his love for kites, teaching me to fly on weekends; how good he was with kids and friends, then the silence, distance, and years of hardened expression while breaking a daughter into emotional pieces.

Turnstile Hostile
Semibelieve
Almost Time
(Mercy street)

She Learned To Not Be Scared - a memory
Nothing Love - heart break

Stepping into the women's lives gave me agency to heal from a parallel place and gifted this album its graceful architecture. Grateful. Wish I could meet you.

---

Surrija is simply on a different wavelength. After dropping three LPs and some viral hits under her former moniker Jane Lui, the electro pop phenom is wasting no time with the release of "Barcelona," an explosive single that is equally chilling and seductive. Few tracks, especially of the downtempo variety, have made me want to head-bang and wave my Bic lighter all at once. Surrija, who traveled to Barcelona to write the project, was inspired by Picasso's connection to the capital but more importantly the female lovers and muses he kept in the shadows. It's a fascinating concept that surely will spawn an unputdownable debut record.
- Gark Mavigan, EARMILK


..It enmeshes and picks apart musical styles in a dance that is as opulent as it is sparse. It plays with lightness and weight, lack and abundance. Focusing on the female lovers of Picasso, the record was informed by their talents. Talents denied to these women as he took inspiration from them. As Lui notes: “They are love letters to the women.” Lui’s atmospheric visions create a landscape; façades of brutalism, alive with glitches, reverb and collected sounds. Throwing open the doors, however, you glimpse behind the architecture to reveal plush and luxurious interiors, clean lines and bright opulent splashes of colour. Lui’s tireless attention to detail can be seen through every facet, and yet there is a free-flowing luminosity. It plays with freedom and restraint, nestling back into ideas of lightness and weight.

Surrija perfectly encapsulates all that can be said in her own admittance: “I had to shed my clinical approach and befriend my slightly feral tendencies." - Clementine Llyod, BEARDED MAG

credits

released April 3, 2020

Producers Surrija, Sophocles Papavasilopoulos, Maxwell Gualtieri
Engineered by Sophocles Papavasilopoulos & Maxwell Gualtieri
Mixed by Sophocles Papavasilopoulos all songs except
Tom Biller on Sylvette and Turnstile Hostile
Mastered by Daniel Eaton at Little Castle Mastering, Los Angeles Ca

Recorded at Pots and Pans Studio, Silverlake Ca
Drums recorded at Cyclops Sound Studio, Van Nuys Ca
Almost time recorded at home with Soph & Max.
All programming dreamt up by Surrija, Sophocles, & Maxwell.
Engineered by Sophocles.

All songs written by Surrija & Albert Chiang except
Semibelieve, Almost Time, h u m, She learned to not be scared by Surrija.
Mercy Street by Peter Gabriel

Surrija - Vocals, Moog, piano, mellotron, software synths
Matt Chamberlain - Drums, mixed percussion, modular synth
Maxwell Gualtieri - Electric guitar, bass, drum machine
Sophocles - piano, vocals, clarinet
Albert Chiang - Vocals, Bass (Dora)
Charles Kim - Bass (Turnstile Hostile)
Paul Dateh - Violin
Jake Rosenzweig - Double Bass, noise
Christine Tavolacci - Flute, alto flute
Callaghan Papavasilopoulos - Vocals
Mano Koolhaas - Vocals

Others:
Thigh slaps, box hitting, jumping up and down, mouth percussion, Max’s keys, throat singing, matt through my boombox.

Field sounds:
She learned to not be scared - from hotel room in HK summer 2016.
Semibelieve - night sounds while stargazing in Pine Mountain Club, Ca., retreat with Paul Dateh & Albert Chiang, summer 2017

Funded by 310 Backers on Kickstarter.
Major support provided by Umami Foundation.

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Surrija Los Angeles, California

"Chilling & seductive"
- Earmilk

"Lui’s tireless attention to detail can be seen through every facet. It plays with freedom and restraint, nestling back into ideas of lightness and weight." - Bearded Mag

Electro art pop that combines the love for sound and song form that is tactile and surprising. She plays with space and impact, glitch and gloss as a way to map mind into sound.
... more

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