About

Light. Light at an Angle. The world illuminated at a micro and macro level. Every point of view ie. every angle chosen a touchstone. Transmutation. Alchemy. The mundane becomes the enchanted. Cinema. Body. Memory. Montage. A universe inspired / exhaled. Life!

I’m a very intuitive singer, but I also need to feel my body when I sing because I’m also a very physical person. I like to let it all flow: energy, me, intuition. I love text and what you can do with it. I love the jazz tradition, but I’m also into using my voice to emulate drum-machines and synthesisers. But, ultimately, I use it in its full scope to tell stories. – Lea Maria Fries

Light at an Angle is the name of the debut from Lea Maria Fries’ solo project 22º Halo. The record is a collection of acutely sensuous, polaroid-like snapshots of a life experienced as a seamless journey between waking consciousness, dream space and the different densities of revery – transcribed with a soft, impressionistic touch. It’s a singular take on the traditional vocal jazz idiom, one that draws from experimental electronica, contemporary r&b, impressionistic classical, all the way through post jazz / post rock. It’s the sound of an acoustic quartet alloyed – vocals, upright bass, piano, drums – into a sonic substance emulating the properties of quicksilver.

I have three wonderful musicians in the band. We are all very different and this creates this nice musical tension. It opens up an energy field through which we can move about musically. Everyone adds to my ideas, but the point is to always serve the story in the song and the music. – Lea Maria Fries

All of the original compositions found on Light at an Angle were written somewhere between early 2017 and February 2019 when 22º Halo finally entered the studio. The record was cut live, in just two and half days. Every song was arranged and developed with the band, with improvisation as the key component. The core objective was to infuse each piece with an almost tangible emotion and bring its narrative into focus. The record includes a total of seven songs written by Lea, a cover of Douglas Dare’s Nile, the jazz standard This Hotel and one piece co-written with drummer Valentin Liechti, the song Ulysse (Lea lyrics, Valentin music).

If this record was a film it would be a documentary about black holes. Or maybe a Michel Gondry movie like écume des jours or something by Ingmar Bergman. – Lea Maria Fries
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Lea Maria Fries is a Swiss vocalist / songwriter, currently residing in Paris. She is one third of avant-art group VSITOR and the band leader and key composer in 22º Hal. 22º Halo are Lea Maria Fries (vocals), Gauthier Toux (piano), Lukas Traxel (upright bass) and Valentin Liechti (drums).

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