iamthemorning: Beauty, fragility, tranquillity

IAMTHEMORNING are arguably one of the more intriguing bands within the progressive musical world. The Russian duo of singer Marjana Semkina and pianist Gleb Kolyadin have been forging, quite frankly, a unique sound that fuses the sensibilities of progressive rock with the elaborate musical tapestries found in chamber pop. It’s an intoxicating sound that invokes a multitude of emotions. Back in August, the band released their latest effort, the stunning The Bell, and Marjana explains to Distorted Sound that the new album arrives after a time where the band have pushed themselves creatively forward.

“Any good artist would develop in that time because artists don’t stand still, they grow and expand their artistic horizons and experiment and learn new things. As did we. It was never an intention, it wasn’t even related to the fact that we were making a new album, it’s just a process that is always there in the background, otherwise we’d just get bored,” she says. “We’re remaining true to ourselves and our sound, while introducing new tools of artistic expression and, I think, becoming bolder and more confident in what we do. Unapologetic and with no compromises, no attempts to fit in, not that we’re known for trying to fit in anyway.”

The Bell follows hot on the heels of their last release, Ocean Sounds. Released only last year, the live studio film captured the raw essence and emotional tranquillity experienced with IAMTHEMORNING‘s music. In an experience that was a first for the duo, one must ask, did that recording process have any direct impact on how the band set about crafting The Bell? “I talked a lot about the making of Ocean Sounds when we released it. It was sort of a milestone for us and a smooth transition into The Bell because one song, Blue Sea is even featured in the film. We were also considering recording a very freshly out of the oven version of Six Feet which sounded a little differently back then, but for a few reasons decided against it. I wouldn’t say that the experience influenced making of The Bell very much because the actual work on the new album came much later when we had our heads cleared and the plate was scraped clean for new ideas and new concepts.”

With a smooth transition between releases, IAMTHEMORNING were able to hit the ground running and through their meticulous work ethic, The Bell represents a band at their creative zenith. Pulling through a variety of styles and moods, from the tranquil fragility of Ghost of a Story to the extensive instrumentation and forward-thinking nature of album opener Freak Show, this album clearly demonstrates why IAMTHEMORNING are living breathing examples of the word progressive. For all their musical diversity however, there is one underlying characteristic that acts as the glue that holds it all together; 19th Century song cycles. Firmly established by the Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic era, Franz Peter Schubert, songs are designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit, and for IAMTHEMORNING, this works wonders as The Bell is a cohesive body of work that flows superbly.

“I think that if Schubert lived in our time, his Winterreise (Winter Journey) could be called a conceptual album. This is a detailed work, where the lyrics and music are equal and complement each other. That is, unlike ordinary songs, music reveals the semantic space of the words, and the words give the music sometimes a different, more voluminous meaning. This is such a dramaturgy between two dimensions. Instrumental codes are of great importance – they complement and prove, seldom contains the psychological kernel of the song,” explains Gleb Kolyadin when asked of why the band incorporated these song cycles into The Bell. “For example, Lilies is a reference to Schumann and his Dichterliebe (The Poet’s Love) or Frauenliebe und Leben (A Woman’s Love and Life). Like in Schumann‘s songs, the role of the piano here increases to a value equal to the voice. And in some cases, the emphasis moves to the piano part. Of course, you can listen to a separate track, and it will seem completely self-sufficient. But all interest is precisely in combining tracks with each other, in the context of a single image. Also, we did not accidentally choose the key for each track – everything was done to harmoniously combine the tracks. Therefore, it is customary to perform some vocal cycles as a whole without splitting out individual numbers. Nowadays, thanks to streaming services, people are less and less listening to the whole album, preferring to listen to individual tracks. In this regard, we wanted to specifically create something that could make you stop and listen carefully to these 45 minutes of music.”

Indeed, The Bell should be enjoyed as one complete piece of music and in an age where streaming is the most accessible way to consume music, the duo’s dedication towards the album format is more than commendable. From start to finish, you are submerged into the duo’s elaborate musical world and the resulting experience is as immersive as it is emotional. It’s a fantastic representation of the word progressive and with their new release, IAMTHEMORNING can rest assured that they remain one of the most intriguing and unique bands active today.

The Bell arrives after a three year wait since your last studio album, 2016’s Lighthouse. How have you developed the sound of the band in that time?

Marjana: Any good artist would develop in that time because artists don’t stand still, they grow and expand their artistic horizons and experiment and learn new things. As did we. It was never an intention, it wasn’t even related to the fact that we were making a new album, it’s just a process that is always there in the background, otherwise we’d just get bored.

Of course, last year saw the release of Ocean Sounds; an album/film that captured your live set-up. How was the experience of creating that release and did any of that experience bleed into the creation of The Bell?

Marjana: I love your choice of words with the “bleed” part. I talked a lot about the making of Ocean Sounds when we released it. It was sort of a milestone for us and a smooth transition into The Bell because one song, Blue Sea is even featured in the film. We were also considering recording a very freshly out of the oven version of Six Feet which sounded a little differently back then, but for a few reasons decided against it. I wouldn’t say that the experience influenced making of The Bell very much because the actual work on the new album came much later when we had our heads cleared and the plate was scraped clean for new ideas and new concepts.

The Bell was recorded across Russia, the UK and Canada in several studios. What was the thinking behind this and did utilising different locations help expand the sonics we see on the final product?

Marjana: The thinking behind is was basically “we will work with whomever we want to work with, despite the geography”. Music comes first and people that we want to see featured on it come with it, everything else comes second. So we had our long term friend and collaboration Vlad Avy that is based in Toronto recording his guitars there, and he also recorded drums with Svetlana Shumkova cause she’s also from Toronto. We did the string orchestra in St Petersburg, grand piano on our beloved Mosfilm in Moscow and I did my vocals in London because that’s where I’m based now and where the sound engineer I’m most comfortable working with is situated.

Onto the music itself. The music here has so much depth to it! A blend of rock, classical and folk, I find there’s so many layers to explore here. How difficult was it to incorporate all these layers in your sound? Can you elaborate on the writing process?

Gleb: Well, we didn’t try to hold to any particular styles at all. I think that it is always best to do what is relevant to us at the moment. If we feel that it will be appropriate to add a harsh sound to some track, we will do it. For example, the opening track Freak Show on the album turned out to be quite loud and most progressive in some places. Just because I could not imagine how it would be possible to do it without all these drums, guitar and saxophone in the finale part. Or another track – Blue Sea. I was thinking about whether to add something to the mix, but there is nothing to add, everything sounds good with an acoustic guitar and piano. So I am pleased that each track turned out to be quite unique in terms of style. The main point was to unleash the full potential of each track without harming the original idea. You just fantasise “what I would like to add here” and at the same time analyse the final result, answering the question “has it gotten worse”. Perhaps the only track on the album that seemed complicated to us was Song of Psyche. I felt that from it, one could make a more rockish song with drums and strings. But after several drafts, I settled on the fact that it would be more organic to leave it in a minimalistic. Actually, I think that this time we were very delicate to our music, not trying to complicate it somewhere or specifically modify it.

What I find with The Bell is that you’ve taken a huge amount of time and dedication in crafting this release and I find this even extends to the stunning artwork. Can you explain the imagery we see on the album cover?

Gleb: Depicted on the cover is a safety coffin bell, an invention of 19th century born from obsessive fear of being buried alive – that was provoked by a lot of registered cases of people actually being buried alive, as well as beautiful collection of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, dedicated to the subject. Poe was very fashionable and had quite some power over peoples’ minds but also had a terrible phobia of being buried alive, which he successfully passed on to his many readers by vividly describing the premature burial phenomenon. One of the inventions to escape such a terrifying ordeal was a so called “safety coffin” that included a bell attached to the grave stone with a thread that was attached to it and went all the way underground into the coffin so that the allegedly diseased, had he woken up and realised he’s been buried alive, could ring to let the people outside know what has happened.

In a time where streaming and digital consumption of music is more the norm than owning physical releases, do you believe that great artwork is still crucially important for albums?

Gleb: I always thought of the artwork as an important part of an album “package”. We pay a lot of attention even to the smallest details so for us album cover is indeed crucial. It’s the first impression that someone gets of the album and it has to be the right one, it has to go hand in hand with what they’ll hear when they play the record. Translate the idea that’s not alien to the album. Besides, even in the short time since the album was released we saw quite a few comments stating that the cover caught someone’s eye and this is how people discovered the band.

The Bell is out now via Kscope.

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