Anatélo by Maroulita de Kol

Greece’s ecstatic ritual singer, pianist, and ambient composer Maroulita de Kol announces her debut release Anatélo, an EP of deeply traditional Hellenic ceremonial cultures interwoven with contemporary experimental colour.

Athens-raised, Berlin-based Maroulita de Kol creates music formed from the ancient, pre-Christian rites and practices of Greece, newly re-presented through a contemporary lens. A former student of classical piano and voice, an unbreakable bond with her homeland yielded an extensive and ongoing dive into the mythologies, arts and storytelling of ancestral Greece. These studies eventually guided her to the debut solo works that make up Anatélo and forthcoming accompanying full-length Anásana.

Its instrumentation and themes borrow both from the ancient ecstatic ritual of historical Greece and meditative electronic ambient music. Flowing lines of deeply learned piano technique clothe traditional Hellenic folksong. And while its imagery was unmistakably born in Greece, its tones are inflected by de Kol’s time in Berlin and her immersion in its electronic and experimental scenes. Many of the EP's lyrics are revised from a Byzantine hymn written around 850 BC by the poet and musician Kassiani - Byzantium’s only known female composer, and one of the earliest known in human history.

Conjuring spells in reverence to Aphrodite, to a spiritual embodiment of love, the EP takes place in a blissful ancient world of birdsong and salt air, sunbaked caves and blue skies. Maroulita’s Greek language vocal melodies soar and glide atop instrumentation both traditional and modern.

Maroulita de Kol is a Greek pianist, singer, composer and performer.

She composes music for theatre pieces, performances, films and documentaries, and is currently in the process of releasing her debut solo album. Her music has been characterised as otherworldly and mystical with dynamic and expressive elements.

She believes in the healing power of art.