Isn’t it darkness that makes light brighter? Contrasts, closely juxtaposed, open new perspectives on things, an idea that 3-piece Basel collective LILAMORS, led by vocalist Ana Čop, explore with their debut album ‘When I Am Dead, My Dearest’. Overlapping concepts of past and future, real and unreal, this and another world. A bold, inter- generational step, guiding Jazz into new realms of experimental electro-acoustic music, mixing traditional poetry with original lyrics and spoken word. Music as a glitch in the time- space continuum.

This fluid sound-universe bears a unique composition of musical snapshots and vignettes, arranged in a surreal overlay.

“Here, a figure struggles for inner peace and direction in the disturbing surroundings of modern life… there, another character discusses perspectives on life and death”.

Ana describes her mysterious, sometimes coded lyrics

“On another song we accompany a girl as she takes the final steps over the edge of this world. It’s like we become friends with a crowd of hassling, wavering or broken characters while listening to this album. It draws us into a dream land.”

The one who departs from this world, arrives at a different place, perhaps a parallel one, connected to us still.

The same way LILAMORS have spread their geographical network from their bases in Basel and Berlin all around Central Europe, their style incorporates so many regional and historical nuances that it is impossible to place the music into a standard formula. One might hear a Jazz background on the opening tracks, while the closing ones point more towards contemporary electronica and neo-classical influences.

It is no coincidence the opening tune of this album is titled ‘Outro’. It reflects the band’s penchant for quirky humour, as much as it carries a personal story of its three members:

“As musicians, Jaka, Thilo and me have all lived through major transformations in the recent years, partly because of the pandemic and the loss of loved ones it meant for us and so many other people. Coming from a traditional Jazz environment, we opened ourselves to incorporate both more ancient and more contemporary art forms into our music to create something new. With ‘Outro’ we say goodbye to our own past and embrace what’s to come.”

Electro-musical tales like ‘Slow Traveller’ and ‘Dream Land’ are a testimony to this innovative approach, which culminates in the closing song, ‘Home’. “This piece really made us feel like we made it, and arrived at a new place, where we could settle”, Ana remembers the creation of this half-jammed cinematic sound entity. It shows that LILAMORS managed to maintain an improvisational spirit in their playing while migrating to brand new territories in terms of sonic aesthetics.

‘When I Am Dead, My Dearest’ bridges gulfs considered unreconcilable between sophistication and simplicity, futurism and tradition, urbanity and rurality, leaving the open question: whether this album is about death after all, or rather about birth, rebirth and the re-imaginability of this world. We don’t know. No-one does. Perhaps all we have are suggestions… – LILAMORS, 2023