"Branches" is the second release of a series we call "Out of the Blue". It is a cycle of collaborative singles with artists from other disciplines. It is Olicía’s result of collaborating with woodworker Dshamila Annina who is based in Verscio (CH) and in La Mandria (IT). The song “Branches” sets out as a tender, jazzy folk ballad incorporating wood percussion like falling drops of water. Playfully exploring different sounds and tunings of the percussion instruments created by Dshamila Annina and gently decreasing the level of abstraction over the course of the song, shaping the different sounds into a more concise rhythm by mixing them with claps and ratchet sounds.

The song’s lyrics reach deep into an inner, emotional core. According to Anna-Lucia Rupp, they observe a loved one fading away slowly: “A kind glimpse into their past and the memories you share. Like the image of an oak tree that contains so much history, sunlight and tension within all those annual rings. It is about the awareness of things evolving, of people fading, of time coloring the leaves until they can't hold onto the branches no longer. That bitter-sweet evanescence…” Co-writing the lyrics, as they often do, Fama M’Boup adds a perspective that transcends the immediate grief and perceives lost ones in your family as the roots enabling yourself to grow and build upon.

You can purchase the woodwork by Dshamila Annina and read more about this project on our label shop www.o-cetera.com