Home of the Heart Music with Adela Mede

10 Minute Read

Music

A playlist that explores the sense of attachment Mede has to the culture and geography of her homeland in Southern Bratislava

‘Szabadság’ is a Hungarian word which loosely translates as liberty or freedom, and can also mean holiday or taking leave. Fittingly, it’s also the title of the debut album by Slovak-Hungarian musician Adela Mede, a piece of work which exudes an aesthetic freedom, venturing seamlessly between ultra-vivid field recordings, inventively distorted electronics & trilingual vocals, spoken and sung in Slovak, Hungarian and English.

It’s difficult to confine ‘Szabadság’ and Adela Mede’s work to comparison, but there are resemblances which may help place the parameters of where this album roams and thrives. Decomposed vocal treatments bring to mind the golden years of Coil, while the voice-centred combination of traditional influences and contemporary experimentation elicits parallels with the work of Fever Ray, Księżyc and Mede’s Night School label mate Cucina Povera. Nevertheless, ‘Szabadság’ sounds too striking, born out of a specific milieu and originally executed, for these similarities to stick and hold too much weight.

Recorded in Mede’s family home in Rusovce, a borough of Southern Bratislava that lies on the Danube – close to the Slovakian border with Hungary and Austria – ‘Szabadság’ is steeped in diaristic interiority, a work that distils evocative undertones of experience and environment. The sound of a delicate call-and-response vocal between Mede and her sister, and the vibrant aural backdrop of fields at the height of Summer are just some of the sounds that are entwined with bold manipulations of voice and synthesis.

Yet much like the imagery of shimmering iridescence depicted on the album artwork by Kvet Nguyen, ‘Szabadság’ is a document of fluid interplay, situated somewhere between memoir, collage and innovative sound art, where shades of personal perspective merge with the imprint of external realities. Here, multiple affinities are explored, including the bond Mede has with Slovak-Hungarian folklore, exemplified by the recording of folk dances Mede incorporates into the fabric of ‘Szabadság’.

With this playlist, Mede explores the sense of attachment she has with the culture and geography of her homeland, and the kinship she has found when listening to an eclectic assortment of formative musical discoveries. Contending thematically with a ‘home of the heart’, Mede assembles a poignant homage to personal roots and revelations, from Hungarian folk and ensemble choir recordings to Timbaland productions and rich ambient works. There’s plenty to unearth here, with selections (and reflections) that not only emphasize the emancipatory power of knowing your origins, but also highlight the importance of finding a place to feel at home elsewhere. Taking flight but always returning, to a place of peace and comfort…

Order the vinyl of her debut album ‘Szabadság’ on Night School Records here

“I have been exploring the theme of home in a very geographic way in my music, and it’s been a precious and an emotional experience. But to be able to do that, I also had to listen to many things that gave me a feeling of familiarity – not the temporary nostalgia kind – the kind that melts away anger, hatred, negativity. And I believe that this emotional warmth is the true home of the heart. So here are some songs where I really feel this.”

Topics

Adela Mede Night school records Playlist Southern Bratislava

LISTEN

Hidegen fújnak a szelek - Muzsikás

“A very obvious choice. The voice of Márta Sebestyén is something I heard a lot in my childhood. Later on in life I heard this song properly for the first time, and the simplicity of the lyrics and the repetition of the melody really struck me. I also later learned that my late uncle created choreography to this song, in which my parents danced. I perform this song live sometimes.”

Hidegen fújnak a szelek - Muzsikás

“A very obvious choice. The voice of Márta Sebestyén is something I heard a lot in my childhood. Later on in life I heard this song properly for the first time, and the simplicity of the lyrics and the repetition of the melody really struck me. I also later learned that my late uncle created choreography to this song, in which my parents danced. I perform this song live sometimes.”
Houbava Milka (Beautiful Milka) · Bulgarian State Television Female Choir

“Collective singing always seems to elevate things and bring a strong element of humanness in music for me. And nobody does it better than the Bulgarian State Television Female Choir.”.
Ani Zakareishvili - At First

“I recommend listening to Ani Zakareishvili’s debut album too, but this release and especially this song is as simple as it gets – about falling in love. The piano and the spacialisation in this song are like a dream.”
Cucina Povera - Sinisen Ruusun Tapaus

“I kind of wish this song went on forever. I often listen to this before I play live, because it gets me excited. I never really took to understanding what this song is about, but I always imagine it’s anticipating some great things to come in life.”
Kajsa Lindgren - Melodies

“An anthem of hope, and a small part of a beautiful album which explores the theme of togetherness and sketches of different memories. I really connect with this album, and specifically the chord progression of the ambient synth is just like honey slowly making its way to the bottom of a tea cup.”
Katarina Gryvul - Topic

“Something about the way vocals are manipulated on this song reminds me of child-like joy, in the best way – pure and unwavering.”
Kara-Lis Coverdale and LXV - Topic

“Repetition of hopeful and gentle notes. Another song I wish went on forever. I always imagine it as a soundtrack to time passing by through an old beautiful clock.”
Jonáš Gruska – Volanie

“With this song I feel like I’m underwater, or laying on the grass next to a body of water while different creatures are trying to communicate with me. It really captures the atmosphere of a hot summer day spent by the lake in Rusovce, where my parents live.”
Oklou - face A ( best - nation - friendless)

“The recordings of football commentary in this song always give me a sense of unity. In my family we often struggle to find spaces where we can come together and spend time peacefully, but watching the World Cup was always a unifying space.”
Nelly Furtado - Afraid

“Top-tier production on this album, truly nothing like it. I really love the lyrics on this track. This kind of joy and hope, but instead of ambient melodies it’s entangled into a perfect pop song.”
Nate Scheible - With Any Kind of Luck

“This album changed my life. Voice recordings of a woman intertwined with the most beautiful non-intrusive music. It’s a journey of forgiveness and love. And I don’t think you even really have to listen to what the lady is saying so much, the timbre of her voice, the intonations when she asks questions, are enough, because it’s so simply human.”
Jenny Berger Myhre - Måter Å Forstå Seg Selv I Verden

“I remember when I first heard this song, the repetitive motif, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Intertwined with random field recordings and conversations, a child speaking – it holds so much joy and hope.”