Laura Rafetseder / Swimmers in the Arctic Sea (2016)
Release date: October 21 / 2016
 Cover Swimmers in the Arctic Sea:
(c) Lindo Records /
artwork and handwriting: Angela Dorrer www.andorrer.de /
layout: Peter Rüpschl; Copyright details:
Use of Cover free of charge as part of album review or feature if credits are quoted correctly
Tracklist: 1) beating hearts 2) blues in your lover's eyes 3) hostile shore 4) we were young and wounded 5) those who made no sound 6) late autumn & early storms 7) lament 8) rocket science 9) the day after tomorrow 10) stone cold city 11) suite: this sounds like four songs: a) this sounds like a song b) love will find you too c) broken free d) we will reach them all |
|
Record Company: Lindo Records
Distribution: Hoanzl
Laura Rafetseder (songwriting, vocals, guitar)
Additional musicians: Stephan Steiner (5-string fiddle), Marc Bruckner (percussion, bass, harmonica), Gernot Feldner (piano), Patrizia Sieweck (backing vocals), Markus Brandstetter (ukulele, guitar)
ERRATUM: this is the correct song order - it was printed in the wrong order on the booklet (this sounds like a song is 11a, not 11d).
Also: booklet was cut and stapled, but it was meant to be a folder - ie. the lyrics are in the wrong order. Please take out the staples and put the pieces end to end - then you should be able to read the lyrics correctly :)
purchase/download/listen:
directly from Lindo Records
Hoanzl
Amazon
i-Tunes
Spotify
press info swimmers in the arctic sea
There is an island called Loneliness (остров Уединения, or Ensomheden) amidst the cold of the Kara Sea, which is part of the Arctic Sea. The island and its surrounding waters are background to "Swimmers in the Arctic Sea", second album of singer songwriter Laura Rafetseder.
A major theme of the album is the contradiction of being seperate and one at the same time, both on a personal level as well as on a political and social level. As far as the society is concerned, it is solidarity and isolation that form the two antipodes. All of us are "Swimmers in the Arctic Sea", lost in the isolating chill of our times, headed for our very own island called Loneliness. Yet, there is also the longing for unity and a tendency towards solidarity in the global struggles of a crisis ridden world.
The Cover depicting the island was designed by artist Angela Dorrer, for whom maps have been a constant artistic theme. As an exclusive feature for the album launch she has created 33 unique handmade covers in a limited edition, numbered and handsigned. They can be purchased as part of the cd.
As on her debut, musicians of the Vienna songwriter and folk community contribute to the music: Patrizia Sieweck (background vocals), Marc Bruckner (bass, harmonica, percussion), Markus Brandstetter (ukulele) and Gernot Feldner (piano). Key song of the album, "Beating Hearts", was released in mid February 2016.
Loneliness is also the scene of "Blues in your Lover's Eyes", second song of the album. The lovers mentioned in the song keep swimming back and forth between shore and island, in search of their own identity within the relationship. We all need our island to maintain our individuality within the whole.
These two levels, the personal and the global, will run across each other again and again. The album, in part, is also about our relation to the world.
It is this relation that is increasingly instable. In times of capitalist crisis, alienation and isolation are on the rise, removing us from each other. Conflicts are erupting. The battle for survival is getting more severe ("in a time when living gets harder" - "Hostile Shore"). There is nothing left to hold on to. .
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea is inspired by the vague fears that we all experience in the face of increasing insecurity because of war, unemployment, violence and the rise of the far right. They are fears for our future, fears for the ones we love. Like lonelyness and alienation, these fears are symptoms of class society. Like many negative feelings society suppresses them, puts them in the back corners of our minds, and covers them with false happyness. It is our task as artists to put our fingers on the wounds and say what we feel and see.
Yet, there is also a movement against this trend to isolation, people who stand together, who get up and fight hand in hand for their rights. This is our only chance to overcome isolation and feelings of seperation: "we should be holding hands at midnight" (Beating Hearts). Especially Beating Hearts is a call for solidarity and overcoming seperation.
The song "Those who made no sound" also works on two levels - a song about a love gone wrong, it remembers the short moments of bliss, like we remember the heights of movements, before they are pushed aback. It is the world that falls out of love, gives way to conflicts, but it is us who react with anger to how it treats us. In the end, the song turns into a protest song, calling for standing up and saying no. Originally alluding to a true story of strawberry workers in greece who were shot by their foreworkers, the song acquired a different meaning during the oxi-referendum in greece.
In "Hostile Shore" the protagonists fall in love in an increasingly irrational world. They ask themselves, in the face of children drowning while fleeing from war: "what if i have to flee someday too now / this could have been my child".
Sometimes we feel so helpless, that the only thing left to hold on to is love. But even love comes and goes, and what is left is a vague idea of who we are or could be. ("I am mostly me these days and i like who ive become" - "We were Young and Wounded", "clouds they just come and go but it's you who holds on" - "Blues in your lover's Eyes").
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea is asking for what could be: We could be so much more than what capitalism has in mind for us. The system puts us in little boxes and wants us to function, in love as in life. Those who want more in life, keep banging their heads on the walls of what capitalism allows us to be. But we want the whole thing. We want it all. We are reaching for the stars and "We will reach them all".
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea is inspired by the idea that one day we might rise from our knees and reach for those stars. It is possible because: "We are so much stronger than we think" (Beating Hearts).
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea - Song by Song wordrap
beating hearts:
"This record and especially this song is about the longing for solidarity, about how lonely we all feel if we try to take on the world all alone, in the workplaces, in the neighbourhoods, in times of crisis, fighting for our survival. I think everyone knows this feeling, especially in a time like this."
blues in your lover's eyes:
"This one started out as an exploration of love, why we need our very own island to maintain our identity, trying not to lose ourselves within a relationship. Women have a tendency to give up their identity, losing themselves in love. it's a lifelong struggle. After two verses the direction of the song changes and it turns into a break up song, and these lines came out of me, before i even knew we would break up ("and there you go again / hands in your lover's hands / blues in your lover's eyes"). It's one of the best lines i've ever written, and i didnt even mean to write it."
hostile shore:
"That was in the middle of the so called 'refugee crisis', when all these children were drowning in the mediterranean. The album title is taken from a line in this song. It's about falling in love while the world is going nuts. We're all people, we're all human beings. And all we have is each other and we will drown if we allow divisions to kick in. The key line though is that we should be building ships, ie we need to organise. "
we were young and wounded:
"Another 'keeping your identity in a relationship' song, about what comes after the first rush of love, and more significantly about turning to loving and accepting yourself. In a way it's a very mature song, at least for my standards. But it also recognises that we are all young at heart, kids really, and that we all feel the same and face the same challenges."
those who made no sound:
"A few years back there was this incident with these strawberry workers in Greece, who were shot at by their foreworkers cos they had dared demand their wages. Again, starting out as a love song, but ends very angry, as a protest song. It acquired a new meaning during the oxi-referendum, especially the line "there'll be a time to think of this, to tell them no, to stop them doing this".
late autumn & early storms:
"This is a winter song - about sticking together and having a good time anyway when it's cold outside. And it's also about being happy with who you are."
lament:
"A very personal song."
rocket science:
"Just a little love song."
the day after tomorrow:
"I wrote this in 2011 for a 'post-apocalyptic' festival by austrian artists monochrom. But this, as well, very much fits the situation in Greece."
stone cold city:
"This one is about saying who you are and not hiding and bending over anymore, about taking a risk and saying what your needs are."
suite: this sounds like four songs:
"I had four acoustic songs for the album and kind of merged them into some sort of medley. They r all very short and simple but they feature different sides of the same thing. I felt they sort of belong together."
this sounds like a song:
"These are all lines that are taken from a conversation i had, where i went 'this sounds like a song' every four seconds. I like being inspired by what people say. And sometimes a line simply sounds like a song. So i go and write it."
love will find you too:
"I actually didn't want to include this cos i thought it's cheesy. But my mum loves it. It's a tearjerker. I play it at weddings sometimes. In a way it's about dialectics, that everything comes and goes and that that's ok."
broken free:
"This is a song about not fitting in. None of us fits in really. The shoes in this society are all standard sized, but we come in different shapes and sizes. And then i thought, maybe it's not us who are wrong, maybe the system is wrong. It's my very own utopian fantasy."
we will reach them all:
"This is about the fact that it's good to want the impossible. Always aim high. A good closer :)"
Pressetext Swimmers in the Arctic Sea
Download Cover and press photos in print quality: http://www.lindo.at/down.html
Mitten in der Karasee, einem Seitenmeer des Nordpolarmeers, liegt die Insel Einsamkeit (russisch остров Уединения, norwegisch Ensomheden). Sie ist Schauplatz des zweiten Soloalbums von Laura Rafetseder, Swimmers in the Arctic Sea. Themen des Albums sind Getrenntsein und Einheit auf einer persönlichen Ebene, Entsolidarisierung und Solidarisierung auf einer gesellschaftlichen Ebene.
Laura Rafetseder: „Swimmers in the Arctic Sea ist inspiriert von der diffusen Angst, die wir angesichts einer unsicherer werdenden Welt mit Kriegsgefahr und steigender Arbeitslosigkeit jeden Tag fühlen, Angst vor der Zukunft, Angst um die, die wir lieben, Sorge, wie wir uns über Wasser halten sollen. Diese Angst ist wie Einsamkeit und Entfremdung ein Symptom der Klassengesellschaft. Sie wird wie viele negative Gefühle für gewöhnlich verdrängt, unterdrückt, und von Hochglanzwerbung überdeckt. Es ist unser Auftrag als KünstlerInnen, den Finger darauf zu legen und zu sagen, was da ist.“
Das Cover, auf dem die Insel zu sehen ist, gestaltete die Künstlerin Angela Dorrer, die sich seit Jahren zeichnerisch und performativ mit Kartografie beschäftigt und sich mit ihren "Handscapes" einen Namen gemacht hat. Exklusiv zum Album-Launch gestaltet sie künstlerische Unikate in einer limitierten Sammlerauflage von 33 Stück, nummeriert und handsigniert, die gemeinsam mit der CD zu erwerben sind.
Musikalisch wirken auf dem Album VertreterInnen der Wiener SingerSongwriter- und Folk-Szene unterstützend mit: Stephan Steiner an der Violine, Patrizia Sieweck an der zweiten Stimme, Marc Bruckner an Bass, Mundharmonika und Percussion, Markus Brandstetter an der Ukulele und Gernot Feldner am Klavier.
Die Vorabsingle beating hearts, gleichzeitig Schlüsselsong des Albums, wurde bereits im Februar dieses Jahres veröffentlicht, und schaffte es unter die Top Ten des Protestsongcontests 2016.
Die Insel Einsamkeit taucht erstmals in blues in your lover's eyes auf, dem zweiten Song des Albums. Die Liebenden schwimmen immer wieder zu ihrer jeweiligen Insel der Einsamkeit, auf der Suche nach sich selbst. Laura Rafetseder: „Wir brauchen diese Insel, um uns als Individuum von eigener Identität wahrnehmen zu können.“
Das Persönliche und das Globale werden sich auf Swimmers in the Arctic Sea immer wieder begegnen. Denn es geht auch um das Verhältnis der beiden zueinander: Ich und die Welt.
Und an dem krankt es. Denn in Zeiten der kapitalistischen Krise greifen Entfremdung und Entsolidarisierung immer mehr um sich. Konflikte treten immer stärker zu Tage. Der Kampf ums Überleben wird härter ("in a time when living gets harder" - hostile shore). Es gibt keine Sicherheiten mehr, an die man sich klammern kann.
Laura dazu: „Wir alle sind ‚swimmers in the arctic sea‘, wir schwimmen im Nordpolarmeer, inmitten von uns isolierender sozialer Kälte, auf dem Weg zur Insel Einsamkeit.“
Aber es gibt eine Gegenbewegung, Menschen die aufstehen und sich wehren, die sich solidarisieren und gemeinsam kämpfen. Nur so können wir unser Getrenntsein, unsere Isolation überwinden: "we should be holding hands at midnight" (beating hearts). Besonders beating hearts ist ein Appell zur Überwindung der Spaltungen, ein Aufruf zur Solidarität.
Auch in those who made no sound begegnen sich das Globale und das Persönliche - an sich ein Liebeslied, erzählt es vom Höhepunkt und Vergehen einer Liebe, aber es ist auch die Welt, die sich entliebt, und in der zunehmend Konflikte entstehen. In hostile shore verlieben sich die Akteure in einer zunehmend verrückter agierenden Welt. Laura: „Mich hat diese Sache mit den im Mittelmeer ertrinkenden Kinder zutiefst erschüttert... Was, wenn das mein Kind wäre? Was, wenn ich flüchten müsste?“
Manchmal fühlen wir uns so hilflos, dass das einzige, an dem wir uns festhalten können, die Liebe ist ("i put my arms around you and we hold each other tight" - hostile shore). Aber selbst die ist ein höchst unsteter Genosse. Sie kommt und geht, und was bleibt, ist eine vage Ahnung davon, wer wir wirklich sind oder sein können. ("i am mostly me these days and i like who i've become" - we were young and wounded; "clouds they just come and go but it's you who holds on" - blues in your lover‘s eyes).
In broken free wird klar, dass die Vorgaben, die die Gesellschaft uns macht, Vorgaben sind, die wir nur begrenzt erfüllen können, die nicht passen, wo klar ist, dass wir die Fesseln des Systems sprengen müssen.
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea fragt danach was sein könnte. Laura: „Wir könnten so viel mehr sein, als der Kapitalismus es zulässt. Er steckt uns in kleine Boxen und verlangt von uns, dass wir funktionieren, in der Liebe wie im Leben. Wer mehr vom Leben will, stößt ständig an die Grenzen dieser Gesellschaft. Aber wir wollen mehr. Wir wollen das ganze Leben. Wir greifen nach den Sternen und we will reach them all.“
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea ist inspiriert von der Idee, dass wir uns eines Tages von unseren Knien erheben und den ganzen Kuchen verlangen, denn: "we are so much stronger than we think" (beating hearts)
Singer/Songwriterin Laura Rafetseder hat sich bereits mit Laura & the Comrats und deren Erstlingswerk „Creating Memories“ einen Namen gemacht. 2012 supportete sie u.a. Billy Bragg in Graz. Im November 2012 erschien ihr Solodebüt "The Minor Key Club", das einiges an Presselob einheimsen konnte. Im Herbst 2016 erscheint ihr zweites Solo-Album "Swimmers in the Arctic Sea" auf Lindo records. Die Vorabsingle Beating Hearts schaffte es unter anderem unter die Top Ten des Protestsongcontests 2016. Songs von Laura Rafetseder erschienen u.a. auf Compilations wie Wien Musik 2011 (monkey) und Between the Lines V (Vienna Songwriting Association).
Pressestimmen:
"Die wunderbare Sängerin Laura Rafetseder hat sich zu einer der authentischsten & stärksten Songwriterinnen des Landes entwickelt. Eine Stimme in der man sich verlieren möchte." (Freizeit-Kurier)
"Auch wenn man nicht auf die sehr starken Texte hört, entfalten die faszinierenden Songs und Laura Rafetseders Stimme eine ganz merkwürdige Sogwirkung." (Kurier)
"Unser vielleicht schwerster Fehler 2012: Die "Vorgruppe" beim Billy Bragg Konzert in Graz sausen zu lassen und stattdessen im Foyer des Volkshauses gemütlich zu plaudern. Laura Rafetseder hat nämlich alle, die schon zu diesem Zeitpunkt im Saal waren, von ihren Qualitäten überzeugt. Rafetseders Stimme lässt einen nicht mehr los. (www.haubentaucher.at[http://www.haubentaucher.at/])
"Laura Rafetseder versucht nicht, irgendwelchen aktuell erfolgreichen Strömungen zu entsprechen, sondern verfolgt ihren eigenen Weg. Dieser ist höchst eigenständig, ungemein selbstbewusst und mit einem hohen Wiedererkennungswert versehen." (Mica)"
Distribution: Hoanzl
Laura Rafetseder (songwriting, vocals, guitar)
Additional musicians: Stephan Steiner (5-string fiddle), Marc Bruckner (percussion, bass, harmonica), Gernot Feldner (piano), Patrizia Sieweck (backing vocals), Markus Brandstetter (ukulele, guitar)
ERRATUM: this is the correct song order - it was printed in the wrong order on the booklet (this sounds like a song is 11a, not 11d).
Also: booklet was cut and stapled, but it was meant to be a folder - ie. the lyrics are in the wrong order. Please take out the staples and put the pieces end to end - then you should be able to read the lyrics correctly :)
purchase/download/listen:
directly from Lindo Records
Hoanzl
Amazon
i-Tunes
Spotify
press info swimmers in the arctic sea
There is an island called Loneliness (остров Уединения, or Ensomheden) amidst the cold of the Kara Sea, which is part of the Arctic Sea. The island and its surrounding waters are background to "Swimmers in the Arctic Sea", second album of singer songwriter Laura Rafetseder.
A major theme of the album is the contradiction of being seperate and one at the same time, both on a personal level as well as on a political and social level. As far as the society is concerned, it is solidarity and isolation that form the two antipodes. All of us are "Swimmers in the Arctic Sea", lost in the isolating chill of our times, headed for our very own island called Loneliness. Yet, there is also the longing for unity and a tendency towards solidarity in the global struggles of a crisis ridden world.
The Cover depicting the island was designed by artist Angela Dorrer, for whom maps have been a constant artistic theme. As an exclusive feature for the album launch she has created 33 unique handmade covers in a limited edition, numbered and handsigned. They can be purchased as part of the cd.
As on her debut, musicians of the Vienna songwriter and folk community contribute to the music: Patrizia Sieweck (background vocals), Marc Bruckner (bass, harmonica, percussion), Markus Brandstetter (ukulele) and Gernot Feldner (piano). Key song of the album, "Beating Hearts", was released in mid February 2016.
Loneliness is also the scene of "Blues in your Lover's Eyes", second song of the album. The lovers mentioned in the song keep swimming back and forth between shore and island, in search of their own identity within the relationship. We all need our island to maintain our individuality within the whole.
These two levels, the personal and the global, will run across each other again and again. The album, in part, is also about our relation to the world.
It is this relation that is increasingly instable. In times of capitalist crisis, alienation and isolation are on the rise, removing us from each other. Conflicts are erupting. The battle for survival is getting more severe ("in a time when living gets harder" - "Hostile Shore"). There is nothing left to hold on to. .
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea is inspired by the vague fears that we all experience in the face of increasing insecurity because of war, unemployment, violence and the rise of the far right. They are fears for our future, fears for the ones we love. Like lonelyness and alienation, these fears are symptoms of class society. Like many negative feelings society suppresses them, puts them in the back corners of our minds, and covers them with false happyness. It is our task as artists to put our fingers on the wounds and say what we feel and see.
Yet, there is also a movement against this trend to isolation, people who stand together, who get up and fight hand in hand for their rights. This is our only chance to overcome isolation and feelings of seperation: "we should be holding hands at midnight" (Beating Hearts). Especially Beating Hearts is a call for solidarity and overcoming seperation.
The song "Those who made no sound" also works on two levels - a song about a love gone wrong, it remembers the short moments of bliss, like we remember the heights of movements, before they are pushed aback. It is the world that falls out of love, gives way to conflicts, but it is us who react with anger to how it treats us. In the end, the song turns into a protest song, calling for standing up and saying no. Originally alluding to a true story of strawberry workers in greece who were shot by their foreworkers, the song acquired a different meaning during the oxi-referendum in greece.
In "Hostile Shore" the protagonists fall in love in an increasingly irrational world. They ask themselves, in the face of children drowning while fleeing from war: "what if i have to flee someday too now / this could have been my child".
Sometimes we feel so helpless, that the only thing left to hold on to is love. But even love comes and goes, and what is left is a vague idea of who we are or could be. ("I am mostly me these days and i like who ive become" - "We were Young and Wounded", "clouds they just come and go but it's you who holds on" - "Blues in your lover's Eyes").
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea is asking for what could be: We could be so much more than what capitalism has in mind for us. The system puts us in little boxes and wants us to function, in love as in life. Those who want more in life, keep banging their heads on the walls of what capitalism allows us to be. But we want the whole thing. We want it all. We are reaching for the stars and "We will reach them all".
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea is inspired by the idea that one day we might rise from our knees and reach for those stars. It is possible because: "We are so much stronger than we think" (Beating Hearts).
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea - Song by Song wordrap
beating hearts:
"This record and especially this song is about the longing for solidarity, about how lonely we all feel if we try to take on the world all alone, in the workplaces, in the neighbourhoods, in times of crisis, fighting for our survival. I think everyone knows this feeling, especially in a time like this."
blues in your lover's eyes:
"This one started out as an exploration of love, why we need our very own island to maintain our identity, trying not to lose ourselves within a relationship. Women have a tendency to give up their identity, losing themselves in love. it's a lifelong struggle. After two verses the direction of the song changes and it turns into a break up song, and these lines came out of me, before i even knew we would break up ("and there you go again / hands in your lover's hands / blues in your lover's eyes"). It's one of the best lines i've ever written, and i didnt even mean to write it."
hostile shore:
"That was in the middle of the so called 'refugee crisis', when all these children were drowning in the mediterranean. The album title is taken from a line in this song. It's about falling in love while the world is going nuts. We're all people, we're all human beings. And all we have is each other and we will drown if we allow divisions to kick in. The key line though is that we should be building ships, ie we need to organise. "
we were young and wounded:
"Another 'keeping your identity in a relationship' song, about what comes after the first rush of love, and more significantly about turning to loving and accepting yourself. In a way it's a very mature song, at least for my standards. But it also recognises that we are all young at heart, kids really, and that we all feel the same and face the same challenges."
those who made no sound:
"A few years back there was this incident with these strawberry workers in Greece, who were shot at by their foreworkers cos they had dared demand their wages. Again, starting out as a love song, but ends very angry, as a protest song. It acquired a new meaning during the oxi-referendum, especially the line "there'll be a time to think of this, to tell them no, to stop them doing this".
late autumn & early storms:
"This is a winter song - about sticking together and having a good time anyway when it's cold outside. And it's also about being happy with who you are."
lament:
"A very personal song."
rocket science:
"Just a little love song."
the day after tomorrow:
"I wrote this in 2011 for a 'post-apocalyptic' festival by austrian artists monochrom. But this, as well, very much fits the situation in Greece."
stone cold city:
"This one is about saying who you are and not hiding and bending over anymore, about taking a risk and saying what your needs are."
suite: this sounds like four songs:
"I had four acoustic songs for the album and kind of merged them into some sort of medley. They r all very short and simple but they feature different sides of the same thing. I felt they sort of belong together."
this sounds like a song:
"These are all lines that are taken from a conversation i had, where i went 'this sounds like a song' every four seconds. I like being inspired by what people say. And sometimes a line simply sounds like a song. So i go and write it."
love will find you too:
"I actually didn't want to include this cos i thought it's cheesy. But my mum loves it. It's a tearjerker. I play it at weddings sometimes. In a way it's about dialectics, that everything comes and goes and that that's ok."
broken free:
"This is a song about not fitting in. None of us fits in really. The shoes in this society are all standard sized, but we come in different shapes and sizes. And then i thought, maybe it's not us who are wrong, maybe the system is wrong. It's my very own utopian fantasy."
we will reach them all:
"This is about the fact that it's good to want the impossible. Always aim high. A good closer :)"
Pressetext Swimmers in the Arctic Sea
Download Cover and press photos in print quality: http://www.lindo.at/down.html
Mitten in der Karasee, einem Seitenmeer des Nordpolarmeers, liegt die Insel Einsamkeit (russisch остров Уединения, norwegisch Ensomheden). Sie ist Schauplatz des zweiten Soloalbums von Laura Rafetseder, Swimmers in the Arctic Sea. Themen des Albums sind Getrenntsein und Einheit auf einer persönlichen Ebene, Entsolidarisierung und Solidarisierung auf einer gesellschaftlichen Ebene.
Laura Rafetseder: „Swimmers in the Arctic Sea ist inspiriert von der diffusen Angst, die wir angesichts einer unsicherer werdenden Welt mit Kriegsgefahr und steigender Arbeitslosigkeit jeden Tag fühlen, Angst vor der Zukunft, Angst um die, die wir lieben, Sorge, wie wir uns über Wasser halten sollen. Diese Angst ist wie Einsamkeit und Entfremdung ein Symptom der Klassengesellschaft. Sie wird wie viele negative Gefühle für gewöhnlich verdrängt, unterdrückt, und von Hochglanzwerbung überdeckt. Es ist unser Auftrag als KünstlerInnen, den Finger darauf zu legen und zu sagen, was da ist.“
Das Cover, auf dem die Insel zu sehen ist, gestaltete die Künstlerin Angela Dorrer, die sich seit Jahren zeichnerisch und performativ mit Kartografie beschäftigt und sich mit ihren "Handscapes" einen Namen gemacht hat. Exklusiv zum Album-Launch gestaltet sie künstlerische Unikate in einer limitierten Sammlerauflage von 33 Stück, nummeriert und handsigniert, die gemeinsam mit der CD zu erwerben sind.
Musikalisch wirken auf dem Album VertreterInnen der Wiener SingerSongwriter- und Folk-Szene unterstützend mit: Stephan Steiner an der Violine, Patrizia Sieweck an der zweiten Stimme, Marc Bruckner an Bass, Mundharmonika und Percussion, Markus Brandstetter an der Ukulele und Gernot Feldner am Klavier.
Die Vorabsingle beating hearts, gleichzeitig Schlüsselsong des Albums, wurde bereits im Februar dieses Jahres veröffentlicht, und schaffte es unter die Top Ten des Protestsongcontests 2016.
Die Insel Einsamkeit taucht erstmals in blues in your lover's eyes auf, dem zweiten Song des Albums. Die Liebenden schwimmen immer wieder zu ihrer jeweiligen Insel der Einsamkeit, auf der Suche nach sich selbst. Laura Rafetseder: „Wir brauchen diese Insel, um uns als Individuum von eigener Identität wahrnehmen zu können.“
Das Persönliche und das Globale werden sich auf Swimmers in the Arctic Sea immer wieder begegnen. Denn es geht auch um das Verhältnis der beiden zueinander: Ich und die Welt.
Und an dem krankt es. Denn in Zeiten der kapitalistischen Krise greifen Entfremdung und Entsolidarisierung immer mehr um sich. Konflikte treten immer stärker zu Tage. Der Kampf ums Überleben wird härter ("in a time when living gets harder" - hostile shore). Es gibt keine Sicherheiten mehr, an die man sich klammern kann.
Laura dazu: „Wir alle sind ‚swimmers in the arctic sea‘, wir schwimmen im Nordpolarmeer, inmitten von uns isolierender sozialer Kälte, auf dem Weg zur Insel Einsamkeit.“
Aber es gibt eine Gegenbewegung, Menschen die aufstehen und sich wehren, die sich solidarisieren und gemeinsam kämpfen. Nur so können wir unser Getrenntsein, unsere Isolation überwinden: "we should be holding hands at midnight" (beating hearts). Besonders beating hearts ist ein Appell zur Überwindung der Spaltungen, ein Aufruf zur Solidarität.
Auch in those who made no sound begegnen sich das Globale und das Persönliche - an sich ein Liebeslied, erzählt es vom Höhepunkt und Vergehen einer Liebe, aber es ist auch die Welt, die sich entliebt, und in der zunehmend Konflikte entstehen. In hostile shore verlieben sich die Akteure in einer zunehmend verrückter agierenden Welt. Laura: „Mich hat diese Sache mit den im Mittelmeer ertrinkenden Kinder zutiefst erschüttert... Was, wenn das mein Kind wäre? Was, wenn ich flüchten müsste?“
Manchmal fühlen wir uns so hilflos, dass das einzige, an dem wir uns festhalten können, die Liebe ist ("i put my arms around you and we hold each other tight" - hostile shore). Aber selbst die ist ein höchst unsteter Genosse. Sie kommt und geht, und was bleibt, ist eine vage Ahnung davon, wer wir wirklich sind oder sein können. ("i am mostly me these days and i like who i've become" - we were young and wounded; "clouds they just come and go but it's you who holds on" - blues in your lover‘s eyes).
In broken free wird klar, dass die Vorgaben, die die Gesellschaft uns macht, Vorgaben sind, die wir nur begrenzt erfüllen können, die nicht passen, wo klar ist, dass wir die Fesseln des Systems sprengen müssen.
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea fragt danach was sein könnte. Laura: „Wir könnten so viel mehr sein, als der Kapitalismus es zulässt. Er steckt uns in kleine Boxen und verlangt von uns, dass wir funktionieren, in der Liebe wie im Leben. Wer mehr vom Leben will, stößt ständig an die Grenzen dieser Gesellschaft. Aber wir wollen mehr. Wir wollen das ganze Leben. Wir greifen nach den Sternen und we will reach them all.“
Swimmers in the Arctic Sea ist inspiriert von der Idee, dass wir uns eines Tages von unseren Knien erheben und den ganzen Kuchen verlangen, denn: "we are so much stronger than we think" (beating hearts)
Singer/Songwriterin Laura Rafetseder hat sich bereits mit Laura & the Comrats und deren Erstlingswerk „Creating Memories“ einen Namen gemacht. 2012 supportete sie u.a. Billy Bragg in Graz. Im November 2012 erschien ihr Solodebüt "The Minor Key Club", das einiges an Presselob einheimsen konnte. Im Herbst 2016 erscheint ihr zweites Solo-Album "Swimmers in the Arctic Sea" auf Lindo records. Die Vorabsingle Beating Hearts schaffte es unter anderem unter die Top Ten des Protestsongcontests 2016. Songs von Laura Rafetseder erschienen u.a. auf Compilations wie Wien Musik 2011 (monkey) und Between the Lines V (Vienna Songwriting Association).
Pressestimmen:
"Die wunderbare Sängerin Laura Rafetseder hat sich zu einer der authentischsten & stärksten Songwriterinnen des Landes entwickelt. Eine Stimme in der man sich verlieren möchte." (Freizeit-Kurier)
"Auch wenn man nicht auf die sehr starken Texte hört, entfalten die faszinierenden Songs und Laura Rafetseders Stimme eine ganz merkwürdige Sogwirkung." (Kurier)
"Unser vielleicht schwerster Fehler 2012: Die "Vorgruppe" beim Billy Bragg Konzert in Graz sausen zu lassen und stattdessen im Foyer des Volkshauses gemütlich zu plaudern. Laura Rafetseder hat nämlich alle, die schon zu diesem Zeitpunkt im Saal waren, von ihren Qualitäten überzeugt. Rafetseders Stimme lässt einen nicht mehr los. (www.haubentaucher.at[http://www.haubentaucher.at/])
"Laura Rafetseder versucht nicht, irgendwelchen aktuell erfolgreichen Strömungen zu entsprechen, sondern verfolgt ihren eigenen Weg. Dieser ist höchst eigenständig, ungemein selbstbewusst und mit einem hohen Wiedererkennungswert versehen." (Mica)"