Jolanda Moletta Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 1 Items

‘Nine Spells’ is a collection of vocal-only compositions by experienced vocalist and multimedia artist Jolanda Moletta, a musical tribute to nine of her female ancestors. Having fronted the folk band She Owl for over a decade, releasing two full-length albums and playing more than 300 concerts across Europe and the US, Jolanda turns the isolation of the past two years into an undeniably personal project of ancestral connection and healing. Her solo venture first appeared in 2021, contributing vocals for the Pepo Galán & Karen Vogt album ‘The Sweet Wait’, as well as a loop for the Thesis Recurring project. Nine Spells, however, sees her delicately arresting voice take centre stage for the first time. The Turin-born, Berlin-based musician found the urge to rediscover her origins while traveling with her band. Collecting photos of her female ancestors, she uncovered their stories. She learned of her great grandmother, a herbalist and healer, who defied the dangers of Wwii to gather medicines to help the people of her hometown; she learned of her grandmother the violin player, who gave up after marrying, the only other musician in her family; she learned of her great-great-grandmother, the nomad, who ended up settling in what is now their hometown of Turin; and she learned of her great aunt, the first woman to receive a literature degree in the city’s university. Though her intention was to connect with and heal the past of her ancestors, what transpired was the reverse: their stories of courage gave her strength, imbuing her present experience with healing echoes. Channelling these formed the basis of the Nine Spells, from the ethereal, haunting opener ‘Let the Wave In’, through the melancholic reverberations of the inner cages of loneliness in Spells III and IV, right through to the sacred, choir-like conclusion in ‘Your Wildfires Light Up the Darkness of Your Heart’. Each musical composition, written from each spell, drawn from each collage, has been evoked from a place of healing intention, that can be enjoyed together as a full practice. Along with the accompanying videos, supplementary limited edition ornaments, boxes and Giclée prints, Nine Spells presents a fruitfully holistic, multimedia approach to musical healing. Unencumbered by instruments, and unfiltered by words, Jolanda’s heartfelt radiations emanate with each Spell. And why a spell? This is perhaps best left to the poetic words of Jolanda herself: Because of their evocative intent: singing beyond words is a way to express an entire lifeline in one single breath, a way to represent and move emotional mountains, clouds full of tears and winds of laughter, infinite gardens where memories and desires intertwine and work together. The purpose is to break the frame and let the paint spread throughout the wall.