It's easy to find adjectives to describe the vocals of Ioanna Gika.
Ethereal.
Hypnotic.
Haunting.
Hurting.
Hopeful.
Passionate.
But describing her music isn't quite as easy.
Eva Cassidy meets Massive Attack?
Enya meets Faithless?
Hope Sandoval meets Cocteau Twins?
Portishead meets, well, Portishead?
All of these are true.
But when it comes right down to it, Ioanna Gika is Ioanna Gika.
She's a talented vocalist, songwriter, musician.
She's a humanitarian.
She's a fighter.
She sings from the heart.
She sings from her soul.
And she has brought all of this to us with her debut solo album, "Thalassa", available now from Sargent House.
I have been a fan of Ioanna's since 2007. Her band Io Echo was one of two opening bands for She Wants Revenge on their tour to promote the album "This is Forever." I had no idea who Io Echo were when I walked into the Showbox in Seattle, WA that night. I walked out with a signed EP from what I knew were going to become one of my favorite bands and a top favorite female vocalist.
To this day I fangirl over the work that Ioanna does. This album gets, and deserves all my geeky fangirlness. What a treat to the auditory senses.
Beginning with "Roseate" and ending with "Drifting", this album hits on love, loss, and life. It's everything I had hoped for and more. My personal top song picks are "New Geometry", "Swan", "Roseate", "Ammonite", and "Drifting".
It took me almost a week of listening to truly be able to get out what words I did get out here. It's not much. It's not detailed. But it is from the heart. I love this album. And if you find yourself listening to it, I hope you do too.
