NEW VOODOO
EP
Try to resist “New Voodoo” and you’ll only fall deeper under its black magic spell. Singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Démira incants about “tricky Madonnas” and Catholic guilt with the defiance of M.I.A., Billie Eilish or Florence Welch.
- SPIN Magazine
NEW VOODOO
SINGLE
After leaving a punk concert at an underground swimming pool in Paris, Démira Jansen began shepherding to life "New Voodoo." Fueled by that familiar post show adrenaline, Démira laid down the song’s first instrumentals. Finding herself in a city steeped in culture, Démira turned to French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s famous piece, Le Lit - to inspire the lyrics.
Later on in London, with the help of Marli Wren at North Pole Studios, the song grew its legs. Démira started experimenting with the sounds of Bollywood and observing and recording the peculiar noises she’d hear in her daily life: windshield wipers, electronic toys, fighter jets, etc. Finally, in New York City, Démira combined her London recordings with the vintage instruments of Jimi Hendrix' Electric Lady Studios. With an ingredient list spanning three countries, post impressionist artwork, girl power and one crazy night in Paris, "New Voodoo" came to life.
Engineer Gosha Usov
Mixed by Joe Visciano
Mastered by Heba Kadry
Photo by Michael Didyoung
ABOUT THE MUSIC VIDEO
Démira drew from the challenges of internet manipulation and influence peddling when conceptualizing the video for her single ‘New Voodoo,’ which blends first person shooter with hide and go seek. Démira described the process of filming with filmmaker Nick Noyes:
“Part of the video has been shot in an abandoned hotel in The Netherlands, the rest in a penthouse in Williamsburg New York City, playing hide and seek with friends in the dark. Nick and I were "it" (he held the camera, I held a flickering searchlight) while music from dark fantasy movies came from the speakers. It felt like we were all ethical hackers and it was a lot of fun.”
Démira’s ‘New Voodoo’ revels in pride in spite of feeling lost and celebrates the trials of self discovery. Above all else, Démira is an ardent believer that art and creative expression are more essential now than ever.
“Art is needed in testing times... Music has this unparalleled ability to take all of one's pain, pull it into a single frame and invite us to relive it with all of the joy of the experience and none of the suffering.”
written by david noyes
da vinci
SINGLE
Démira wrote “Da Vinci” about Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting Salvator Mundi, which became the most expensive painting in the world when it was auctioned in New York in November 2017.
To Démira, the painting represents the world right now: a utopian promise in a scene of apocalypse. Démira wrote the melody after jamming with Jesse Harris (Norah Jones, Lizz Wright) and co-produced the instrumental with Sam van Hoogstraten.
Démira fused the story of Adam & Eve with her own. She was born with 25 ribs instead of 24. This birth defect inspired Démira to think about her body through the lens of the creation myth, in which God fashioned "the man" (Adam) from the earth, and after Adam, Eve out of Adam's rib.
Engineer Gosha Usov
Mixed by Joe Visciano
Mastered by Heba Kadry
Photo by Michael Didyoung
LYR
ICS
Lyrics written by Démira
DA VINCI
I’m both Adam and Eve
I own the rib and the dust from the ground
Leo da Vinci hangs on my wall in Astoria
I am two halves of a whole
I am able to sell my bones
I’m both Adam and Eve
I own the rib and the dust from the ground
Leo da Vinci hangs on my wall in Astoria
I am a unique freak show
I know what you don’t know
He said ‘oh Issey,
I offered you a treat,
Don’t make it complicated now
I am the reason
The guardian of angels
The asshole at your funeral
I’m both Adam and Eve
I own the rib and the dust from the ground
Leo da Vinci hangs on my wall in Astoria
I am 2 halves of a whole
I am able to sell my bones
I’m both Adam and Eve
I own the rib and the dust from the ground
Leo da Vinci hangs on my wall in Astoria
I am a unique freak show
I know what you don’t know
He said ‘oh Issey,
You should come home with me
I’m living in a chi-chi warehouse
I’m blowing out candles
As a saviour of the world
The asshole at a funeral
LYR
ICS
Lyrics written by Démira
NEW VOODOO
In extreme situations he always thinks of me
But I’m curveless like a boy,
Angelic in your dreams
I reap the fruit, they eat it
Like these tricky Madonnas
I’m new voodoo, a pièce de résistance
Meet me in Paris or New York or Athens
I’ve got catholic damage like you
And like viruses you pass from person to person
Yet nothing conspires against you
Knowing your creeds, I do commit heresy
(If you play the doctor, I’ll be the witch)
Make me behave, I make you believe
(Make me behave I make you believe)
That a remedy is worse than a disease,
You lied and I smiled but you cannot be free, see
I am new voodoo, your piece de -
Forbidden pleasures, illegal and what not
You’re fearless and mad but devoted
Man you’re like candy,
Sugar sweet though
You don’t know to _
Like these tricky Madonnas
I’m new voodoo, a pièce de résistance
Like these tricky Madonnas
I’m new voodoo, a pièce de résistance
Like these tricky Madonnas
I am new voodoo
I am new voodoo
I am new voodoo
I am new voodoo
A pièce de résistance
I am new voodoo
A pièce de résistance
I am new voodoo
A pièce de résistance
LYR
ICS
Lyrics written by Démira
AERIAL REPEATERS
Aerial repeaters
Aerial, repeat
Aerial repeaters
Aerial, repeat
Aerial repeaters
Aerial, repeat
I’ve been in ruins, it has been a dirt pit in here
I am sorry for the mess that I have made
Like a bird flu, it was lethal
And I’ve been dancing in an aerial ballet
So long,
I can do this on my own
I have songs to decorate your funeral
Be humble, fly with the angels,
I’ve learned to love and keep a promise
The avians fell like stars in oceans
The bird feeders waited on the esplanade
We watched the airborne specks also though
Didn’t see the sea, nor the horizon
So long,
I can do this on my own
Now I have songs to decorate your funeral
Be humble, fly with the angels,
I've learned to love and keep a promise
LYR
ICS
Lyrics written by Démira
PALLAS
Maybe I'm part of the gathering,
Whatever is happening, is happening here
The air smells like warm bread,
Let Athens embrace us,
I prepared but never left
Mama never said no,
Papa always said don’t
You care about her, go to bed
They became a has-been
After upsetting the balance
And said whenever I felt sad:
"Sweetie eat more yoghurt,
It’s good for digestion
And take fruit from the basket"
Lost paragon, a goddess, Pallas
Will you never let this happen to me again?
I’m born poet, ballads
Sing them with me again,
Be a stronger woman
Lost paragon, a goddess, Pallas
Will you never let this happen to me again?
I’m born poet, ballads
Sing them with me again,
Be a stronger woman
Am I meaningless pastiche,
Created without reason?
Do I have to make sense?
I entertained every weekend
To redeem the past activities
And tokens of surrender
Comme ci, comme ça, it’s bad communication:
"D, what did you do? You never learn!"
No one ever defended nor tried to fight back
When there were blood stains on my white flag
Eat more
Yoghurt - no no
Problem - it is good for
Our communication (na na na)
You do and you never learn,
They'll seek prestige through my brain and nerve
Please sweetie eat more yogurt,
Improve your digestion,
Find the apple in the basket
Lost paragon, a goddess, Pallas
Will you never let this happen to me again?
I’m born poet, ballads
Sing them with me again,
Be a stronger woman
Lost paragon, a mother, Pallas
Will you never let this happen to me again?
I’m born poet, ballads
Sing them with me again,
Be a stronger woman
Be a stronger woman
Be a stronger woman