CLEO Lea Maria Fries

• 1 Liquid Thoughts 01:28
• 2 Witch's Broom 04:12
• 3 Umleitung 03:45
• 4 Chrüz 01:34
• 5 Cleo 04:05
• 6 Just Passing 03:09
• 7 India Song 04:24
• 8 Life Below 03:54
• 9 Fungi 04:34
• 10 Hello (I'm on) 03:26
• 11 Get Off My Back 03:03
• 12 Jools 05:21
• 13 Liquid 00:48
• Total Runtime 43:43

Info for CLEO

The Swiss artist's new solo album is being released under her own name for the first time - a fascinating and highly emotional kaleidoscope of jazz, folk, electronica, improvisation and chamber pop.

With her album ‘Light At An Angle’ (2021), which was released under the project name 22° Halo, the young singer from Lucerne already set an exclamation mark - with ‘Cleo’, the artist is searching for her future, for maturity and sensitivity. The album is about encounters with the world, about being a woman in society and culture and about becoming a queen like the one who has inspired her since childhood: Cleopatra. With her captivating voice, Lea Maria Fries is reminiscent of Mélanie De Biasio or Beth Gibbons. Her songs blend African-American music, jazz and improvisation, but also elements of progressive rock to create a sensitive work with depth, full of stories in which she portrays the personal aspirations of an artist in a sensitive and serious manner. With her bassist Julien Herné, who produced the album and wrote the electronic textures, Lea Maria Fries creates compositions over which she sings her lyrics, written together with the journalist Eric Facon, in English, French, German and even Switzerdütsch. Strong, emotional and powerful, fresh and full of surprises, ‘Cleo’ captivates with every single note.

Lea Maria Fries, vocals
Gauthier Toux, piano
Julien Herné, bass
Antoine Paganotti, drums
Guests:
Vincent Peirani, accordina
Raynald Colom, trumpet
Tao Ehrlich, drums
Yessaï Karapetian, piano

Lea Maria Fries
born in 1989 in Switzerland, embarked on her musical journey initially through piano lessons before shifting her focus to voice at the age of 14. She then pursued her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Performance at the Lucerne School of Music from 2009 to 2014, specializing in jazz vocals under renowned professors such as Susanne Abbuehl, Lauren Newton, and Hans Feigenwinter. In 2010, she became the only Swiss and youngest participant to reach the semi-finals of the international jazz vocal competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival, with Quincy Jones on the judging panel. Seeking alternative sounds and inspiration, she moved to Berlin in 2014, where she spent four years exploring textures, compositions, and self-discovery. Subsequently, Fries relocated to France. Today, she resides and works in both Paris and Switzerland. Fries was an esteemed sidewoman in various bands and musical styles early in her career, collaborating with acts such as Dutronc & Dutronc, Eric Legnini, Julien Herné, Macha Gharibian, Empire Of Sound or Louis Matute.Her musical style draws influence from jazz, pop, rock, electronic, and black music, with a particular appreciation for the freedom of improvisation. She blends these diverse influences as a performer, bandleader, composer, and lyricist in her bands et.nu and her jazz quartet 22° Halo, as well as in other projects. As a co-author, she contributed to projects such as Gauthier Toux’s „For A Word,“ Louis Matute’s „Large Ensemble,“ and Macha Gharibian’s trio. With her versatile voice and confident sense of rhythm, groove, and phrasing, she excels in various musical contexts, shining brightly on stage.

This album contains no booklet.