…a visionary…music of intimacy, restraint and conviction …remarkable

 

(The Guardian Jazz Album of the Month****)

On Friday, 13 February, Swiss jazz harpist Julie Campiche released UNSPOKEN, her debut solo album on Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin Rhythm Records. As a vocalist, composer and sound designer her work is an on-going process of musical innovation in jazz, classical, electronic and avant-garde exploration. She is both a visionary and virtuoso, an authentic, singular talent, delivering politically engaged work.

LISTEN TO ‘UNSPOKEN’ NOW:

https://juliecampiche.bandcamp.com/album/unspoken

UNSPOKEN is a celebration of women and the force of feminine power. Campiche paints musical portraits of women— famous and anonymous— honouring those whose voices have been silenced or minimised and the causes they have championed. Drawing on their stories, she composes music that is playful, mischievous, brilliant and profound. Though unaccompanied, her compositions layer harp, voice, electronics, and samples, creating a rich, multi-dimensional soundscapes that shift from atmospheric to abrasive, lyrical to delicate, but undeniably powerful.

Her three singles she has shone a spotlight on poet and sex worker Grisélidis Réal, women who work in society’s shadows in Rosa, and in Las Patronas, Mexican women who selflessly strive to aid Central American migrants. The album’s focus track is Tarana Burke, American social activist and founder of the MeToo movement. She introduced ‘#MeToo’ in 2006 to support survivors of sexual violence, gaining widespread recognition only after the movement went viral on social media in 2017. The track draws on lyrics from her Variety acceptance speech.