How can music be present as both a state of euphoria yet also a state of loneliness? Welcome to the world of Eerie Wanda. The indie band is the brainchild of Dutch/Croatian songwriter and visual artist Marina Tadic. Tadic is joined by bandmates Jasper Verhulst and Jeroen de Heuvel.
Anchored by Tadic’s wistful lyrics and self-possessed vocal delivery, the music takes on a stripped down, spectral quality. Often handclaps and finger snaps replace live drums, giving it a warm, homespun sound.
Her second LP, Pet Town, released in 2019, was an exercise in isolated creativity. Using minimal recording techniques, Tadic shaped ten songs from sheer intuition, while drawing inspiration from solitude. “I've written the songs in a period of my life in which I was feeling quite alone. I wanted the recording process to feel like that too,” Tadic said.
For her Algorhythm, Tadic shares the inspiration she draws from Edith Frost.
Last year I spent a few days in a beautiful old Lodge in Fermyn Woods in England. My friend Danielle Lemaire did an art residency there and her project was about Nick Drake. She invited me to sing a few songs on the opening of her exhibition. One night me, Danielle, and her husband Jan van den Dobbelsteen were sitting downstairs in the Lodge talking about Nick and then talking about other musicians that have a similar type of mystery about them and that's when Jan told me about Edith Frost. I was immediately intrigued and when they played some of her songs from a phone I was in love. When I got back home I listened to many of her songs and now she is one of my favourites. It's so great that it's still possible to discover music that touches you in a deep way.
When I googled Edith I saw that she actually didn't disappear from the music world, because she had these super cute videos on her youtube channel. Just her sitting playing piano and singing. A few months later I was in Indianapolis with my boyfriend Adam Harding and we decided to record a little cover of Edith's "Cars and Parties." When the track was finished my friend Thor Harris from Austin shared it on his Twitter and Edith saw that because she knows Thor too and so she shared it as well. Then we had some emails back and forth and she seems like a super cool Lady. Very grateful I discovered her music!
Tadic and Harding are currently working on new music for Kidbug, a project born out of their romance that includes Harris (Swans) and Bobb Bruno (Best Coast). She assured us that more Eerie Wanda is coming as well, but we may have to wait a bit longer for that. And check out the full Algorhythms playlist here.
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