Basking in the Afterglow with Marva Von Theo
More and more as time moves in a forward direction, it seems to be that music becomes less constrained by the confines of genre. The boxes we put artists in are slowly disappearing, the imaginary filing cabinet of musical classification is becoming all the more vague, and isn’t that a wonderful thing? I found myself trying to classify Marva Von Theo’s latest album ‘Afterglow’ as one thing or another, but then I thought – why? I don’t need to tell you what it sounds like, only what it is.
Image Credit: Mariza Kapsabeli.
Athens-based band Marva Von Theo are Marva Voulgari and Theo Foinidis. Marva is a classically trained pianist with experience as a jazz vocalist and Theo is an electroacoustic and contemporary composer with classical and jazz training on the piano. They came together in 2017 with Theo moving from Vienna where he studied at the University Of Music And Applied Arts to join Marva in Athens.
By the following year, the duo would release their debut album ‘Dream Within A Dream’ independently, and with touring in between, would close out that era with a live EP entitled ‘The Electroacoustic Session (Live at D. Tragkas' Atelier)’ released in the summer of 2020. Videos from this session were also made available on the band’s YouTube channel where early recordings help to highlight their influences, these include covers of David Bowie, Depeche Mode and Tears For Fears. After more than a year of single releases, Marva Von Theo released their second album ‘Afterglow’ in February 2021.
‘Afterglow’ begins with epic album-opener ‘Love’, a sole-write from Theo Foinidis. Love begins gently, building more layers of synth with a helping of feedback over the top of the rhythm track. Over the course of the first minute or more, Love sucks you in, adding bass drum, the feedback gets louder, almost until you can’t bear it anymore and then- ‘When your love is warm, and your eyes are bright, then I spread my wings and my shadows fly. Over endless seas, in eerie hues of blue, I stand still in time to cherish the view.’
Marva Voulgari’s voice is like a warning in these first few lines, though you can’t explain why. Like something unnerving lurking in darkness, and then the pieces of the puzzle fit into place as the lyrics reveal their destination; ‘Now your love is cold, and your eyes are dark, and my wings are tied with the ropes of pride.’ Marva’s voice fills with tragedy, stretching out to the listener as drums become lively. It’s unclear if these drums are programmed, though this, and every other musical element of Love is precisely everything it should be. Add no more and take nothing away – the perfect introduction for Afterglow.
The video for Love, created by Marva, begins with a flower like it embodies the movements of an interpretive dancer. The visuals that follow are unlike anything I’ve seen before, from the mix of live-action and digital animation to the black celestial body radiating…something. Though I heard the track first, I couldn’t imagine a different video for this song.
The less sinister ‘Forever’ is also faster with a drum beat you could set your watch to and added digital percussion that collides with the walls of your ears like it’s tumbling down a well. Arpeggiated synthesizer pings like Gershon Kingsley’s ‘Popcorn’ with the edges smoothed off, and that bass synth needs cranking to feel the full effect.
Forever was also written by Theo, whose lyrics read like poetry; ‘Set me free to fly, let my last cry, one hope is feeding my sigh, one faith is going to steal my breath forever.’ A lead synth line has the air of pan pipes sampled and played back in an unnatural way, but it’s a sound I totally wasn’t expecting and fits the feel of Forever brilliantly.
‘Ruins’ is the first co-write from the duo on Afterglow, with lyrics written entirely by Marva Voulgari and the music written by both of them. Atmospheric keyboard opens Ruins, with Voulgari’s voice cutting through clear and full in the first verse; ‘I won’t ask why you chose another land, another dream to hang on. You will lie, you feel a calling, your restless nature is to blame for.’
The feel is different yet again with the beat more casual, almost with a touch of grime, though very subtle. There’s more vocal production here with backing vocals and wordless parts that drift around. This is the first track on Afterglow where I really feel Marva is showing the listener what she can do in her vocal capability. Her range is a wonder, as is her ability to navigate it. The music serves this purpose well, aiding with atmospheric parts similar to the vocals that slide around the stereo field.
The video, directed by John Karabelas, features the choreographic talents of Antonis Sporidis, which can be seen executed by Marva and a team of dancers. The ominous form of Theo Foinidis can be seen behind Voulgari under bursts of light. The video for Ruins is based in a simple studio set-up where the lighting and performance really make it stand out. But what an image. It’s almost like the whole team said: ‘What colour is this song?’ And then took it from there.
The first sole-write from Marva Voulgari is ‘Embrace This Madness’, also the first single to be released from Afterglow way back in December 2019. A ride cymbal keeps time while synth bass is the most discernable instrument beneath Marva’s voice. The track completely opens up during the chorus though with added drums, and the kind of tape strings you’d get from a 1970’s Mellotron. The chorus lyrics and melody stick with you long after this album breathes its last breath – “Embrace this madness, ‘cause dreams never last for long. Embrace this madness, drink this moment till the last drop…” In another world I could see Embrace This Madness with a more jazz arrangement – brushes on the drums, upright bass, gentle piano chords. Marva’s composition and vocal performance here has that captivating edge of Billie Holiday.
Similarly the video once again directed by John Karabelas captures this ethereal quality very well and in a simple way. Marva appears alone in a somewhat claustrophobic room while light passes over and around her as she performs the track. The performance in slow-motion suits the pace of Embrace This Madness, I can’t imagine how jarring it was to film it sped-up.
‘Dissolve’ is one from the mind of Theo Foinidis. You can feel him pitch-bending those programmed keyboard parts early on, the drums make this one of the most upbeat tracks on Afterglow, which are augmented with the kind of percussion you’d find in an orchestra. Chimes, tubular bells, cymbals, tambourine, there’s so much to hear in the introduction prior to the first verse. Dissolve once again features Theo’s poetic lyrics, my favourite being: ‘I’m a bird that drifts above your sea, letting everything on wind and fate. A leap of faith to reach my apogee, carries the salty wildness of your face.’ If there are more singles to come from Afterglow, Dissolve should be one of them.
I love the disorientating reverb used on the drum intro to ‘Older’, the way it bounces back to the listener in an unnatural way, but only on the snare, not on the bass drum. As much as I’d like to think guitar is being played on this track, I think it’s a keyboard sample. Older is a co-write in the same way as Ruins is, with Marva Voulgari writing the lyrics and music by the duo.
The way the strings and vocal break mimic each other is beautiful, again there’s a touch of grime during the chorus. Musically there are so many components to Older, the bell-like keyboard, what sounds like eerie cello and Marva’s vocal dragging itself through hell to get to her lines. This is one of the most interesting pieces on Afterglow, and also one of the most heartbreaking.
‘Room Of Doubt’ is more of a clear-cut collaboration with Marva writing the lyrics and Theo composing the music. The song wastes no time and goes straight to the lyrical content – ‘In the room of doubt, I follow the steps of my deafening breath, stark naked, lost in the maze, I dread the day that you’ll be gone.’ Overall, Voulgari’s lyrics have more of a melancholic air than Theo’s words. The music written around these verses allows them to breathe with more streamlined instrumentation, rather than the muscle flexing of Older. There’s less obvious synth bass, and the programmed drums are more to the point without multitudes of percussion. It’s the more subtle musical tingles that are harder to map, but they are there.
Interestingly, it seems Room Of Doubt exists in two parts, with the second part fading in a dance-heavy version of the track. Whilst there are no words to this second movement, Marva Voulgari’s vocal stretches into operatic realms - a real sonic treat. However, I think this part ends prematurely, this could easily be doubled in length, giving audiences something to dance to. Perhaps when or if the track is performed live, Marva Von Theo might extend the piece somewhat.
The vibe from Room Of Doubt is somewhat continued in ‘Somewhere Safe’, but in a different way. I love that descending keyboard line which continues under Marva’s lyrics in this co-write from the duo. The accented lines on ‘Soothe me, heal me, come, hold me close. Caress my suffering, please, hold me close,’ are so tight and momentary that you almost miss the words completely. The chorus beginning with ‘against the crowd be my shield’ has a melody that reminds me of ‘Gangsters’ by The Specials. It’s fleeting, and sounds like it’s travelled the enormous space and time between these two songs to be reborn in the New Twenties.
Musically, Somewhere Safe is tremendously exciting. Of course the drums drive this track forward, then there’s the aforementioned keyboard line, but it’s all the minute details that make this one so special. Marva’s soft vocal doubles on the accented parts, the added hi-hat and handclaps throughout the track, and the multitude of layers that build during the chorus are just some examples.
‘Bittersweet Sunday’ is the second and final sole-write from Marva Voulgari on Afterglow, and takes the mood down a bit from the excitement of the previous two tracks. Beginning with deep synth bass and sustained keyboard, I feel Bittersweet Sunday is a letter to somebody. The instrumental choices here aim to serve Marva’s vocal, which is one of her best on Afterglow. My favourite line being ‘a breeze of doubt would poison my thoughts’ for the sheer fact that it’s a very real emotion.
You can almost feel how this was written at the piano, as each chord follows. A simple piano and string version of this track would be heavenly. Theo’s production decisions compliment this composition well though with deep cymbals (which may well be synthesized), chimes and drums that are both assertive yet don’t overstep the mark. With the opening lyric almost optimistic, it’s fitting that Bittersweet Sunday should close out with falling rain.
‘Forgotten’ has more tempo and is full of interesting verses, all entirely written by Theo Foinidis. Curiously, the verses are written to leave the endings unfinished, but continued in each verse following. My personal favourite of these is: ‘-Fly, in this futile forgetful blue. It’s just a beautiful lie, an elusive place where truth’s untied, I´ll meet you.’ The chord-based keyboard part featured early on and is repeated at the end reminds me of Bjӧrk’s ‘Crying’. The vocal production on the chorus is sublime, adding layers that serve to make it sound bigger, and yet more delicate. I love that smacking snare that bounces from left to right in the stereo field. One thing I’ve realised is just how good Marva Von Theo are at layering their music, there is always so much to hear in each track that makes these pieces as stunning as they are. Forgotten is no exception.
The final track on Afterglow is ‘My Moon’, which begins with arpeggiated keyboard, and a plucked instrument which is difficult to decipher. It has a beautiful echo on it, opening this track right out while it’s grounded by the keyboard. I can almost picture the parameters of that being altered as the sound changes and becomes more electrifying. The toms begin to build as a bass drum is added, I really love how rhythmic My Moon maintains itself throughout, and Marva’s voice is different yet again.
All the reverse echo is like an instrument in itself, conjuring up creepy images that would do well in a music video on its own. The first verse reads; ‘His melancholy eyes shroud nature’s mystery inside. He’s the son of moonlight that gives shape to the weirdest desires.’ An interesting and unnerving way to end Afterglow, especially as the last words from Marva Voulgari are ‘apart, apart, apart…’ when Marva Von Theo work so well together.
Continue reading for our Q&A with Marva Von Theo. We talk to the duo about their individual songwriting efforts on Afterglow as well as their co-writes, the music videos, a bit about their previous works and their plans for the future.
Image Credit: Mariza Kapsabeli.
1. 'Afterglow' is the name of your brand new album - where does the title come from for that? Were there any other titles you discarded in favour of this one?
Marva Voulgari: In our debut album we mainly talked about different shades of love and the embodiment of dreams. In our second album, we wanted to talk about the memory of things, the stigma, the light of a forgotten star leaves to eternity. Afterglow is everything that still remains in our mind, and that is being remembered the way the heart and our imagination wishes to, as opposed to the way it actually was. We see, we feel, we listen and sing the echo of things. Afterglow was actually the one and only title we felt could match the aura and context of the album.
2. How long did it take to put 'Afterglow' together? Were there any tracks that didn't make the final cut?
Marva: The album took almost 7 months to be completed and many many more months to actually be able to share it with the world! In fact, we had scheduled its release in 2020 and had started putting out some singles, but due to the covid outbreak we just felt the timing wasn’t right. Each Song was basically conceived as a whole, so we just had to put the words and notes in the right place. We don’t usually write plenty of ideas to choose from. Instead, when inspiration comes in the form of a chord progression or a melody, we tend to bring these ideas to completion.
3. The writing on ‘Afterglow’ is interestingly split. Marva, would you tell us about your individual writing on ‘Embrace This Madness’ and ‘Bittersweet Sunday’?
Marva: Both songs are rather autobiographical and represent different periods of my life. I am in fact this type of artist who writes under the influence of strong emotions and experiences and this type of human who doesn’t easily discern the bright side of things. That’s why my lyrics always have this melancholy within. In ‘Embrace this Madness’ I felt that desires and expectations can only exist in dreams and I envisioned this dystopic world where I could have everything I ever wanted. Being so consumed in this world, I couldn’t but ‘hate dawn that would make it all gone’. ‘Bittersweet Sunday’ highlights all those noir aspects of a relationship, with which one has to compromise in order to keep being with his beloved. The heroine accepts that Sundays would be bittersweet now that her beloved has come closer to the worst parts of her personality. Both songs were written for just a piano and a voice and the melodies somehow follow the storytelling.
4. And Theo, what about your writing on 'Love', 'Forever', 'Dissolve' and 'Forgotten'? Where do those themes come from?
Theo Foinidis:
Love: For personal reasons, I felt some wounds opening as I was approaching the end of love. Felt love’s warmth and the unbearable void that came with its absence. The song was written amid a fever of sentiments. Marva sang it with a voice of every broken heart.
Forever: this song is an anthem to eternity, to the belief of every aching soul that behind the fence of time, there is redemption, like a silent cloud, like a familiar whisper. A place where many people believe there’s an end to all their suffering, following helplessly and fatally their emotions.
Dissolve: this song talks about love in a rather raw way, following the aesthetics of medieval poetry. The deepest sentiments are symbolized with elements of nature, the water, the lightning, the wind. Nature is not merciful, so we need to cater for and reserve our spiritual and physical strength.
Forgotten: this song talks about the ultimate freedom of conscience, being freed of the shackles of any authority, beyond nations, religions, emotions and anything that attempts to impose a superficial identity. This is, of course, on the verge of utopia, but the pursuit of the impossible is what really motivates us to question everything and therefore to improve and find our real selves.
The musical themes of the whole album follow a general aesthetic direction. The bass initially exposes a line and later ties in with additional motives that are presented in other instruments within the structure. This is a common compositional practice in classical music. Almost never in this genre does a motive or a phrase appear by itself. On the other side of the music universe, The Cure have also been extremely influential, as their music is polythematic and lyrical.
5. With your individual writing, were individual demos recorded for those tracks too? Do they differ much in sound from the album versions?
Marva: We are kind of “old school”. Almost every song is written on the piano at first, as we believe that orchestration is there mainly to highlight the core of a song that already has a strong presence. This is something common to songwriters and composers, as there is no real band or orchestra present in their room. The only song I believe differed as a demo, was ‘Embrace this Madness’. The first version was far more jazzy and Theo made it more robust to fit the overall aesthetic of the album.
6. There are also some tracks you wrote together. How did you approach writing the music and lyrics together on the album?
Marva: Well, we fight a lot…hahaha… Theo is really stubborn but, in the end, he fully respects my suggestions and objections! I tend to push songs towards simplicity and clarity while Theo towards something more complex in harmony and form. I love jazz and pop and Theo loves Renaissance music!!! We exchange opinions, we try to put in words how a melody, a phrase or a harmony, makes us feel, we use other artists as reference to clarify our individual aesthetic and we finally find the golden ratio! For example, the base lines in Embrace this Madness and Bittersweet Sunday remind of a Baroque era basso continuo, which was something I would never have imagined myself! We both infuse our experience in jazz and classical music to the songwriting but then we tend to hide the traces. Our music is a pure collaboration of our inner selves.
7. Marva, with some of the lyrics on the album not written by you, how do you embody a lyric from the mind of someone else?
Marva: I feel that lyrics are open to various interpretations and that is why listeners tend to project them on their lives and feel more or less familiar with their context. This is also what I do as a singer! Even if a song was written by me, I may feel and interpret it differently, according to my state of mind and period in my life! Theo’s lyrics are really poetic and always create a visual world I can hang on to. Still, there are times when my interpretation and way of thinking may have led to a divergent direction from the one Theo had in mind, so we have these long philosophical conversations…pffffff
8. Theo, you did the mixing on 'Afterglow'. Did you find you were creating definitive mixes early on, or were there many different mixes made in order to get the album to its finished form?
Theo: I knew from the beginning how I wanted each song to sound. The general aesthetics of the Album are determined by two characteristics: a special emphasis on the vocals and the rhythm section, and the feeling of a robust but, at the same time, airy element. For example, in ‘Older’, the vocal effects were already in my mind before the form was even completed, as I sought to make the voice sound mysterious and distant like Jim Morrison’s voice in ‘Strange Days’ by using intense filtered delay. What is more, the rhythm in ‘Older’ is solid and sharp. The same process was followed in ‘My Moon’, mimicking the aesthetics of Robert Smith’s vocals in ‘Underneath the Stars’ with reverse reverb and delay. My general way of working is that the best mix comes from the composition and the orchestration! Therefore, I make sure everything sounds clear and in place from the very first notes, so that even the original idea remains extremely close to the final result.
9. The video for 'Embrace This Madness' was released more than a year ago, what was it like to work with John Karabelas on that?
Marva: John is a very creative and inventive director! As artists, we always have a vision of how the video of our song should be and try to communicate it with the rest of our team. John has the ability to see behind our words and to shape exciting new worlds we would never have imagined, even if he has the minimum means in his possession! ‘Embrace this Madness’ was shot in his basement in Thessaloniki, using just a projector! Only with this projector, he managed to sculpt this dark, dystopian, Blade-Runner-like scenery where time moves sensually slow, wearing the lights of the Metropolis.
10. I love the choreography in the 'Ruins' video - who's idea was it to include that element of performance? How did you approach making that video with potential pandemic restrictions?
Marva: ‘Afterglow’ is a rhythmically intensive album and every song has a strong pulse in its core to dance to, so, the idea of creating a dance video for our songs had been always present! From the idea to its realization of the video for ‘Ruins’, there were many people who contributed with their creativity and talent, such as the director J.Karabelas, the director of Photography M. Gkatzogias, the choreographer A.Sporidis, the dancers I. Antonarou, A.Karachanidis, N. Sarantopoulou!
‘Ruins’ was shot in February ’20, in a cold, abandoned, industrial place and the shooting lasted for two days. Theo was keeping us warm by making tea and bad coffee as he only appeared in some few shots as a ghost! We were lucky to have completed it just a month before Covid restrictions came to Greece… it feels like ages before!
11. Marva, the video for 'Love' is a real visual journey, would you take us through the making of that?
Marva: My intention was to create a surreal world full of metaphors and not talk about ‘Love’ directly as I was supposed to. The video starts with a flower in gestation, that pulsates to the beat of the song, giving the impression of a beating heart. While the lyrics highlight love as the most empowering feeling of all, there’s me dancing, my mind and soul being surrendered to its majesty. However, love can be fragile and after an eclipse, the heroine’s world seems to turn upside down. There are several images of an endless universe that consumes her as she sinks into grief. The stellar scenery becomes even more abstract as the song evolves and we are immersed into the dominant subconscious.
12. Going further back, you came together as a duo in 2017 and released your debut album 'Dream Within A Dream' in 2018, that's fast work! How long did it take to record that album?
Marva: Dream within a Dream was actually completed in a couple of months! Back in 2017, Theo was living in Vienna, and although we used to exchange recordings and ideas through Skype on a daily basis, we had to wait several months until it was possible for him to travel to Greece and record the vocals together!
13. With your EP 'The Electroacoustic Session' reimagining some tracks from your debut, have you considered releasing a full live album in the future?
Marva: One of our ambitious plans is to record a full live album with a chamber orchestra someday! Theo has already made new arrangements for some of our songs but the cost of such a production would be extravagant for an independent band to bear.
14. Finally, can you tell us anything about Marva Von Theo's plans for the rest of 2021? Are there more videos planned? Perhaps some live dates?
Marva: We have already planned to shoot a new live session with songs from ‘Afterglow’ to celebrate its release! Theo is also working on some interactive visuals that will enrich the live experience, when performing live will be possible again! Things with live are really vague right now but hope we’ll be on the stage again really soon…
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To purchase physical and digital copies of Marva Von Theo’s music, visit their bandcamp page here.
For more information about the duo, visit Marva Von Theo’s official website.
Follow Marva Von Theo across social media @marvavontheo on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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