Synthpop at its finest: the band WE ARE AVA from eastern Switzerland spent almost three years creating the follow-up to their debut album Inner Gardening. After their first work had achieved various successes, such as a nomination for Best Crushing Newcomer (20 Minuten), the Swiss Music Award of the same name, and a spot in the top 50 CH album charts, expectations were high, and Radix did not disappoint. The twelve-part release promises a musical flight between spherical synth worlds, organic beats, and the usual gripping melodies. The trio skillfully combines raw, pointed indie tracks and punchy, warm power songs – a tightrope act between intimacy and pop strike.
ABOUT RADIX
Like before, WE ARE AVA relied on broad collaborations with various producers, while also handling the musical realization completely on their own. Thematically, the inner gardening has yet to blossom, but instead, the focus has shifted to a desire for rootedness. The songs on Radix (root) are linked by the lack of grounding, the search for stability, and the longing for contentment that comes from deep within. Kim (vocals) intimately and refreshingly explores her most personal struggles and, with Nicola (keys) and Andy (drums), captures this in almost 40 minutes of stylistically confident, colorful pop. A little more mature, a little more settled and yet still playful, WE ARE AVA present a strong second album. From the very first beat, it promises to be soul food for both secret and not-so-secret romantics.
Back in November 2022, they released the EP B-Side, which now takes up the so-called B-side on the upcoming vinyl record. Additionally, WE ARE AVA’s heartfelt project October Session, featuring two extended live versions captured on video, also found its place on the band’s second record. The first singles have already enjoyed various successes in terms of airplay and playlist placements, such as the single Happy, which is currently the band’s most streamed song.
Their secret formula? Perhaps it’s the unstoppable passion, driving the three musicians as they embark on their journey together.
ABOUT WE ARE AVA
With multifaceted soundscapes, blunt lyrics and the velvety-soft voice of singer Kim, WE ARE AVA processes their existence with all its ups, downs and insecurities into intoxicating, dream-dancing synth-pop. It’s the discrepancy between catchy power songs and spherical fragility that makes the group, formed in 2018, unique. After their initial national reach with the debut EP Feel Them Listening. 2019, the band followed up with their debut album Inner Gardening in September 2021, which landed directly in the Top 50 of the Swiss album charts with a more mature, poppy and yet disarming sound. The 34.52-minute soul trip brought the eastern Swiss recognition as Best Crushing Newcomer (by 20 minutes), which was followed by a nomination for the Swiss Music Award 2022 in the same category, as well as a nomination for Best Emerging Talent 2022 by Swiss Live Talents.
Andy, Nicola and Kim already performed close to 100 live concerts with their captivating energy and their clear love of the stage. They played on the main stages of festivals such as the Quellrock Openair, Openair Lumnezia, Openair am Greifensee, Musicdays Steffisburg as well as on the Piazza Piccola at the Moon&Stars Festival, to name just a few.
Their most recently released music is once again characterized by AVA’s synth-heavy sound, however, it also strikes new notes and surprises with an organic, analog warmth as well as a pinch of roughness and rawness. Kim’s voice seems more mature and set, her stories gain more depth and honesty.
ABOUT THE SONGS
1. Keep Me Guessing
Radix starts with the catchy tune Keep Me Guessing, which tells a straightforward and captivating story of the sizzling excitement of a new romance, the back and forth, to and fro: «Drop the act and show me your cards. Put my heart on a plate for you, come and take it.» Despite the playful, flying vibe, the fatigue of eternal games and increased insecurities can be felt, culminating in the desire for commitment and stability.
2. You
While analog synthesizers and raw drum sounds create a cloud drenched in lightness and playfulness, Kim sings about the disheartening limbo of a hopeless romance. Feelings that should not be and yet never seem to lose their magic and bittersweet flavor of destiny. «Could you please get out of my head right now? You were there for way too long and it‘s pulling me down. Oh you… It’s always been you.»
3. Reminiscing
«Being back here got me reminiscing, got me thinking about what could have been if our egos didn’t have to play the leading roles. Jaded hearts are second parts.» In third position, the trio chooses electronic colors and driving beats losing themselves as they float in nostalgia-soaked reveries. While the song devotes three minutes to the unspeakable «What if?», WE ARE AVA ventures on a little excursion into the gardens of other genres without neglecting their own flowers.
4. High
The first quieter facets follow with the heartbreakingly moving song High, which unfolds its comforting powers despite its devastating essence: «Let’s stay high. Put off goodbye. Just for tonight we skip all the fights. Can we pretend we’re good enough? No weight holding us down. Let’s stay high.» With lulling melancholy, the approaching end of a relationship and the delaying of the inevitable are spread out on a dreamy carpet of sound.
5. Not Another Valentine
In Not Another Valentine, the frustration of repeatedly losing friends because of their emerging romantic feelings is dressed in a guise of a light, folky pop prank. «Wanted more than I could ever give you. Minus a friend, hello dead-end. Told you not to cross the line. Oh, oh, don’t look at me this way.» While musically sadder notes play a game with carefree, flying passages, the turmoil of the perhaps impossible assignment of guilt is also lyrically discussed.
6. Happy
The second half of the album, or the B-side of the record, kicks off with the pre-released single Happy, which became the band’s most-streamed song in the summer of 2022 and achieved numerous airplays and playlist placements (Spotify NMF DE, CH, AT, Pop Brandneu, Fresh Finds GSA, Equal GSA, Apple New Music Daily, and many more). «I just wanna be happy, baby, believe me. I just wanna feel magic, in me, so easy.» The song addresses callousness, emotional negative spirals, commitment anxiety, and the desire to just let it all go.
7. Drifting
From the very first second, Drifting is convincing with its high tempo, driving beat and the contrasting, almost floating vocals. «I am drifting high up here waiting for my dreams to catch me.» Captivating and infectious, WE ARE AVA strikes a balance between indie-surfer flair and an almost apathetic heaviness to get to the heart of a thoroughly familiar mid-twenties theme.
8. Unstable
In the next song, the energy is not diminished with Unstable, and the struggle with insecurities and lack of self-worth is pointedly soundtracked in a deceptively relaxed costume. «All I want is to feel good ‘bout something, ‘bout me. I feel so unstable, I feel so delirious.» Disguised behind a cozy beach song, Kim shows herself honest and raw as hardly ever before.
9. Ocean
Only shortly before the end, the bittersweet ballad Ocean breathes some calm into the musical ride. While singing about the healing, perspective-creating effect of the sea and the conclusion of a relationship driven to the wall, the band succeeds in an even warmer, more comforting world. «So, every time that I need closure I know I need to find my way back to the sea.»
10. I Don’t Get It
To close the circle, the gloomy I Don’t Get It creates a special magic or even slight unease with the discrepancy of funky bass, raw drums, pushing piano patterns and the opposing, almost fairytale-like vocals. At its heart lies the lack of understanding the concept of love and relationships, as well as the belief that distancing from it is the only solution. «I don’t get why you would want that, two birds in one hand. Love me second, no, I don’t get that.»
11. You & Happy (October Session)
To complement the album, the live versions of You and Happy also find their place on Radix in the form of the October Session. As the AVAs are great lovers of extended live versions, their videographic capture and the appropriate visual backdrop of LED walls, they decided to bring all this together. Long dreamed of, two videos were then released in October 2023, the audio of which is now also being immortalized on vinyl. You can find the videos here.
RADIX RELEASE SHOW
THANK YOU
Wow… here we are! Almost three years have passed since we released our debut album, Inner Gardening, a moment that felt like it couldn’t be surpassed. After achieving such a milestone, it became difficult to find the right next steps. To be honest, there were moments when we didn’t know how to move forward. But we did, one song, one concert at a time. And what a wonderful voyage it turned out to be! We continued to work with some of the most splendid people, who we are proud to call our band family, and even welcomed some amazing new members. We cannot express how grateful we are to hold this piece of music in our hands – a tad grown, a tad rooted. The biggest thank you goes out to our entire team, families, friends, supporters and everyone involved in this project. First and foremost, however, we would like to thank all the super-pro-bros Lars Christen, Benji Schmid, Tom Oehler and Benedikt Maile, who created the music on this album with us – you are all exceptional!
Love also goes out to Valentina Chiriatti, Piero Heinzer, Anita Maric and Andy Prinz from muve recordings and Livana Music for being on this journey and dreaming big with us. We also want to thank Dan Suter, Pascal Küng, Florian Moritz & Roman Linder, Andi Jud, the whole Team of Nektar, the Lemmis and Stagelight AG, Ryan Pham, Sofia Pinho, Yannik Wenzel, Patrick Metzger, Til Jentzsch and the whole team of BrandsLoft as well as Die Manufaktur GmbH. Each of you played your part in this – thank you so much!
We are grateful for the generous support of many culture-loving institutions: Kulturförderung Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Stadt St.Gallen, Kultur St.Gallen Plus, Südkultur, Gemeinde Teufen, Gemeinde Gais, Bertold-Suhner-Stiftung, GKB Beitragsfonds, Dr. Fred Styger Stiftung, Hans & Lina Müller-Tremp-Stiftung, and Die Mobiliar. Without your help this record would not exist.
