January 2024

The EP “Cheerful Pessimist” was created in collaboration with lyricist, producer, and composer Yonas Tegegne and the Leipzig-based producers Hans Heusterberg and Jona Raischl. Various influences served as inspiration for the different songs on the EP. On the one hand, they are processed stories from my childhood and youth, past relationships, and experiences with crossing boundaries and feelings of isolation. On the other hand, fictional narratives and parallel worlds of reality are created. The overarching theme that runs like a common thread through the EP is finding meaning and peace in the unchangeable and paradoxical, and additionally confronting the ambivalence of one’s own emotions. The title “Cheerful Pessimist” comes from the eponymous single and is intended to represent those contradictory world and self-relations that we often encounter in our society. I have a special connection to the EP’s intro song titled “Bodyless.” The song narrates my learning process of setting boundaries, allowing anger, and giving space to my voice.