‘I See One Dream…’ - Aiko’s Expiration Date

There's a lot to be said for a travelling musician. You gather influences, stories, people, and songs. Then once you have enough of these things, you can turn them all into a melting pot of something really special. That's exactly what Aiko, the project of Alena Shirmanova-Kostebelova has done. Born in Moscow, raised in the Czech Republic, and currently residing in London, Aiko has made an album that brings all of these elements together - the album is called 'Expiration Date'.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. To see where you're going, you have to see where you've come from. Aiko's youtube channel features videos going back to 2015. These begin with a variety of covers from The Cranberries' 'Zombie', 'Hit The Road Jack' made famous by Ray Charles, Nancy Sinatra's version of 'Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)' and songs by Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears and even Shakira. All performed in a stripped down acoustic style, this would be a precursor to Aiko's first EP.

Self-titled, and featuring a style described as 'bedroom pop', Aiko's style evolved beyond simple acoustic guitar and vocal recordings to feature soft keyboards and programmed drums. Despite this added instrumentation, the focal point would always be Aiko's vocal. Music videos from this era in 2018 include Tunnels, Priest and 22:22, all viewable on Aiko's youtube channel.

Expiration Date begins with 'Intro', a short guitar piece creating a distance with reverb, though there are overdubs that feel closer to the ears of the listener. Soft and comforting, it's a great start to this release and I could easily listen to a whole album of this. This gives way to 'Apology', where the fun really starts. A soft bass drum and a synth bed soundtrack Aiko's vocal, beginning with 'I think I've lost my pride, I only learn the hard way, always has to be my way. I'm never giving up, and when I'm in too deep I just try and keep pushing.' Aiko herself describes Expiration Date as reflecting 'the ideas of solitude', and the album wastes no time in getting to grips with this in Apology.

'Down' is track three, and is featured in a beautiful music video directed by Sayna Fardaraghi. Aiko is seen dancing alone, with choreography by Aneta Kopickova, and the setting being equally as important. The showcase of the religious artwork here works so well in conjunction with Aiko's performance. The questioning lyric is something people can relate to, 'what is even home? Is it your mother? Your father? Your best friend or brother or places where you've grown?' These are all things people go to, when a teenager changes school or moves to university, when you change jobs or a partner comes and goes. I love the tiny amount of piano playing in this. If you listen closely, there is percussion in addition to the drums and basslines largely present in this entire collection of songs.

'Hunt' comes straight in with a vocal proclaiming, 'I'm becoming a mess I don't want to clean up or deal with. I don't sleep and when I do, I see one dream.' A throbbing bass pulse underneath this takes the sheen off of the more melodic elements, which is in no way a bad thing. There's no crowding of backing vocals or ad-libs, anything that could take away from the message. The spotlight is on Aiko, and rightly so.

Early in 2020, the Honya Tran directed video for 'Bad Influence' was released. Contrary to the video later released for Down, the majority of this one is shot outdoors, featuring expansive views on top of high-rise buildings, showcased well in a super-widescreen presentation. I like the subject matter in this song, to me it's about older generations believing groups of young people are a bad influence, when their perception is incorrect. 'We are the kids that parents warned you about, you know that this ain't right, but there's no way out. They call us bad, bad influence, we're the bad kids, we're the bad kids. Good girls gone bad, fun isn't dead, you needed that.' Having fun doesn't necessarily mean you're a bad influence.

The softer 'Bright Yellow' begins with a fade-in synth. 'I keep my options open, I act as if I'm over you,' is a line that jumped out at me, not too dissimilar to the idea of faking it until you make it. The pace is slower, but the drums are ever present. Are they an actual drummer or are they programmed? They're so good, I can hardly tell.

This is probably a good time to talk about Expiration Date's five producers. Filip Vlček and Thomas de Balder are both producers whom Aiko worked with in Prague. The work in London was partly produced by Patrick James Pearson, who's other work includes piano and Hammond organ on Roxanne de Bastion's album 'Heirlooms and Hearsay' - an artist I should definitely write about sometime. Also producing in London was Rob Wilks, who has worked with Foals, Florence + the Machine, and Lianne La Havas. Finally, a piece of this album even travelled to New York, where Tom Marsh produced a track. Marsh is also known for playing drums for Lana Del Rey.

'Vulnerable' is track seven, and was released much earlier, back in February 2019. This music video is set in a room white beyond comprehension, where a male dancer performs around Aiko, who stays seated in the centre of the room. As far as the track goes, this is the closest Aiko gets in going back to the bedroom pop sound, with a minimalist programmed drum pattern, a pad keyboard, and flicks across an acoustic guitar fretboard. Aiko's voice is forever centre-stage with soothing backing vocals, reinforcing this more chilled out side of Aiko. Undoubtedly this serves as a bridge between Aiko's self-titled release and Expiration Date.

Aiko collaborated with UNLUV for 'Right From The Start', beginning with soft and clean guitar. UNLUV's influence can be felt when the beat kicks in, a purveyor of chill vibes if there ever was one. The questioning and lost lyric fits right in with the theme for Expiration Date. The guitar reappears throughout, a refreshing production decision from all the synths that closes the song as well.

'Only Child' starts with a reversed guitar melody, a technique I've always loved. A pad keyboard accompanies more clean guitar with cymbal swishes. I can almost hear this one being composed as the acoustic guitar strikes with the lyric, 'and now I hope you're gonna read my mind, because I don't know how I'm gonna talk to you.' The acoustic guitar continues throughout with added drums and synth patterns. There is a distinct honesty in this track, it feels like a very real emotion Aiko is feeling.

'Highway' kicks off with a nostalgic guitar that makes me think it should've been a part of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood's 'Summer Wine'. The video equally reflects the feeling of times past, giving the image of an 8mm home movie, a car ride in something classic and beautiful. The lyric reinforces the travelling theme that pops up all over Expiration Date, 'Highway is my best friend, I feel like I'm escaping every situation.' This one too saw an earlier release at the beginning of 2019, though it still fits right in here.

The mood is brought back down with the brief 'Growing Old'. The beat is slow, and the vocals are sharing the spotlight with the effects that boost them, an audio symbol that is popular in these times. The song finishes with the lyric, 'I think I'm ready, I think I'm ready for the change.' To me, this serves as a prelude to the album's closing track.

That is, 'When Everything's Right, It Feels Wrong.' Percussion kicks this one off before Aiko's vocal comes in. I love the pitch bending keyboard line, and this lyric in particular - 'I like the sound of my own voice, but don't like when it speaks the truth.' This one is more about a relationship, and being torn between a career and staying home to settle down. Perhaps this song is the real meaning of Expiration Date?

To me, this album gets more interesting with every listen. The lyrics have more meaning than their surface level, if you look closely. To reinforce this, I had some questions for Aiko about where this music came from, the places it was recorded, and what the future might hold.

1. The music on your self-titled release was described as bedroom pop. Do you still identify with that label on Expiration Date?

I think as we all grow and change, I’d say that Expiration Date is an older, wiser version of “AIKO”. The topics I write about are still the same, just the way I write about it is different - I’m not ashamed of any feelings or topics, I’m just pouring my mind out. I don’t really identify with bedroom pop anymore, it was all produced by very talented people that have been in the industry for quite some time and I was looking for people that would see my ideas in a similar way to me. The whole concept of the album is more thought through, more cohesive and I also applied everything I got to know since releasing “AIKO”. It will be funny to look at this album in 5 years time and think the exact same things though. :)

2. Expiration Date was recorded in three locations - London, Prague and New York, can you break down what parts were recorded where?

Sure! London: Before COVID hit us all, I was living in London (and am coming back in September, yaay), therefore songs such as “Down”, “Apology”, “Bright Yellow” or “Right from the start” were created and recorded in London and also produced by people from London. Prague is where I started writing and finished the record. It’s where my family is based, so I was working with some people I already knew and enjoyed working with, but also got to know some new, really talented people with whom we intend to work more in the future, and I doubt I would have gotten to know them if it wasn’t that I was finishing the record back in Czech Republic! Song such as “Bad Influence”, “Hunt” or “When everything’s right, it feels wrong” were recorded in Prague. And then, on my song “Only Child” we worked together with Tom Marsh, who is based in New York. We had to work on this one remotely, sending ideas and eventually my singing takes and his produced instrumentals back and forth.

3. Despite being recorded in multiple locations with different producers, the sound is unified and the music flows well. Are you the sole songwriter or were there other writers too?

Thank you! It’s just me who wrote all the songs. I’m very protective of my writing, I love writing alone and feel distracted when I’m supposed to write with other people - it lacks a bit depth for me, because my songs come from a certain introspection. But it doesn’t mean I don’t want to! I’d absolutely love to write with some other people, two minds are better than one and it’s definitely on my list of “skills that I need to learn/open my mind to”.

4. You've said your album was inspired by lonesome travels. Was any of the writing done on these travels?

So many! For example, “Down” was written in a hotel room, where I was staying solely for the purpose of sleeping over and traveling to the next destination early in the morning. It’s also the contrast of being on stage, centre of attention and giving your best to in all of the sudden being alone in a quiet place that puts me in a creative mindset. If not written on the road, many of them were definitely inspired by them.

5. Growing up, what was the music you were influenced by? Was there a specific artist that inspired you to play guitar and sing?

That’s quite funny, because I’m not coming from a musical background, my family is filled with teachers or lawyers, so my most vivid memory is my mom blasting Elton John and Madonna in the car. She still does it, 13 years later. :) But most of my childhood inspirations are very eccentric. It’s people such as Lady Gaga or Marilyn Manson. I admired them for how eccentric, even shocking they are and how they embrace it. I started writing when I was around 12 and I always loved singing and being quite theatrical, so performing and wanting to spread some of my ideas were a natural extension for me.

6. Highway and Vulnerable were released in early 2019, were they always going to be on the album?

Honestly, when I was releasing Highway and Vulnerable, I didn’t plan on including them on any album and to be exact, I didn’t even know “Expiration Date” will exist! But when I finished all of the other tracks that are on the album, they made sense in the whole concept, so I decided to include them as well.

7. The Bad Influence video is fun! Where was it shot?

Thank you! It was shot in Prague, together with Honya Tran. It was also really fun to film, the only thing that we didn’t plan out properly was that we were shooting a summer-feel music video, being all in light clothes, dancing on rooftops and having the times of our lives. Sounds cool, if it wouldn’t be the end of November! We were all freezing terribly, afraid to slip on ice while dancing on the roof at 5 am and could barely walk by the end of the day. But we did it and are really happy with the result now!

8. The blending of choreography and the Christianity artwork in the Down video works very well. Who's idea was it to bring these elements together?

Thank you again! Me and my great friend Sayna Fardaraghi collaborated on this one. Dance was always an extension of music for me, a physical way to express all of the emotions it brings, so I knew I wanted to incorporate it in my music videos. I came to Sayna to explain my idea and because “Down” itself is a confession of feelings, when we saw the church, it made perfect sense for us to make the story as a “Confession of a dancer”. It was her idea to bring the “clean” white colour in my outfit and incorporate the paintings this way and I love the dynamic it brings!

9. You collaborated with UNLUV for the track Right From The Start, what was it like to work with him?

Actually, me and Unluv are studying at the same university! We both liked what we do, so we were thinking of collaborating. We sat down in a studio, expecting to have to brainstorm for some time, write ideas, but the whole song came to us in about 30 minutes! I came up with the lyrics, he was jamming some guitar chords and it clicked just right. Unluv then did his producers magic and we recorded the vocals together.

10. I saw on your website that you performed at Waves Vienna last year, what was that experience like?

It was really interesting! It was my first showcase festival, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from it - but I was really preparing for it, haha. In the end it had a really lovely atmosphere, supportive crowd and sometimes, when you’d think that people are just passing by, they are stopping for a second, checking you out and it’s just that there are many other artists that they want to see and that’s why they can’t stay for the whole time! I attended all of the meetings and went to many performances of other artists, even discovered some gems for myself. It was quite mentally and physically challenging, but still enjoyable.

11. You've played in many London venues since your move to the English capital, what's been your favourite to play and why?

You’re right, there have been many! But I have two of my favourites, one of them was The Bedford, as it has a really nice atmosphere, it’s styled into a circus and I just love playing in interesting venues! Another one was in Sebright Arms, when I was opening for Martha Hill. It was the supportive crowd and how intimate the venue is that I loved about it.

12. When the world returns to some level of normality, will there be a tour for Expiration Date?

In some way, definitely! I already have some outdoor performances in the summer at smaller venues or festivals, but I’m planning on booking a tour when coming back to UK!

Check out Aiko's website at aiko-music.com, follow Aiko on facebook @alenashirmanova, @aikomakesmusic on instagram and @ajashirmanova on twitter!