We had our first taste of Czech-born, Berlin-based Jáchym Kovář's compelling indie project YASHA in spring of this year; a stunning debut which displayed his dramatically distinct vocal alongside the multi-faceted approach of this eagerly inspired 23-year-old. As a multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer-songwriter and occasional actor, Kovář is clearly revelling in executing the complexities of his creative vision, and with effortless control at every stage to boot.
On his second single, he unites with Prague-based indie-folk songstress Amelie Siba for the sublime "Orange Fish."
Swathed in emotion from the very start, a blissful bed of synths and textures sweeps in to introduce a thought-provoking melancholia. Like an overture it urges a dreamlike state which perfectly befits the songs motivations, as Kovář outlines in an email statement, "Orange Fish is a song that I wrote about my dream. Where I was standing on a Frozen lake and Under the frozen surface I saw an orange fish, which changed from a fish to a beautiful girl in an orange swimsuit. The ice melted down, and I was swimming with her underwater. The water was warm, and I could breathe there. However, she changed back to the orange fish and then disappeared. After that, the water was getting colder. It was getting harder for me to breathe. Everything was getting darker. Then I woke up."
Those synths dissolve into a tenderly strummed guitar, all the backing that's needed for his enthralling vocal to fully command your attention. As the textures return to forge a path towards the chorus, the soundscape broadens in anticipation. The chorus swells and washes over you, with Kovář capturing a genuine and relatable sense of yearning. Speaking to her impact on the direction of the song in the same statement, Amelie continues, "Jachym came to me and he showed me the first raw idea of the song and he told me about the dream which he had. He said that he wants to have me on this track as the Orange fish. I thought it would be great to portray the Orange fish as a girl who’s feeling a lot of pressure in a relationship. In my experience, as things went bad in the past relationships it was me who left first because the other side never realized how much pressure they put on me. That’s why she needs to leave."
The vivid imagery is woven into the music in both instrumentation and lyricism, and fluidly brought to life in this somber, yet perfectly paired visual.
"Orange Fish" is out November 13th via ODDITY Records.
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