Burnheart Remixed by Johanna Burnheart
Following the release of her debut album Burnheart last year, acclaimed German musician Johanna Burnheart has announced Burnheart Remixed: a new collection of reimagined album tracks from four singularly talented electronic producers.
Johanna Burnheart is a German violinist, singer and composer. After studying classical violin, piano and voice during childhood, Johanna’s musical focus developed into jazz. Rather than following the path expected of a classical violinist, she chose instead to pursue the music that was her passion, studying with some of Germany’s most renowned jazz musicians in Berlin with monthly trips to Paris for lessons with Didier Lockwood at his jazz school. In 2013, she enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London as the first jazz violin undergraduate student of the school. The timing was perfect; jazz in London was just on the verge of exploding into the kaleidoscopic scene that it is today.
Her love for the Berlin clubs and the music they represent was manifested during this time, forming the foundation of her current musical style, which blends modal jazz with darker, more electronic influences. She released her debut album Burnheart in 2020 - described in a rave review by MOJO as " literally saw[ing] its own niche" - and the following year was named as one of the Guardian's artists to watch in 2021.
Burnheart Remixed sees Johanna further and more directly explore the underground club scene that has long influenced her work, with four incredible electronic artists providing brand new versions of tracks from her album.
“As I write all of my grooves on a TR-8 drum machine initially, my compositions tend to sound quite electronic in the very early stages. After I first heard the TR-8 mixed in on my album alongside the live drums which I had not planned to do initially, I immediately imagined what an electronic musician might do with some of my tracks.”
Johanna Burnheart
Acid Pauli is one of the most important and innovative electronic producers of the modern era. For more than two decades, his focus has always been to explore new fields off the mainstream path, pushing boundaries to create music that is sometimes psychedelic, continually adventurous and always full of musicality. His remix of Sisyphos is patient, haunting and wistful: a delicate and highly emotional opener that builds a subtle tension with beautifully shimmering synth lines and a mid-paced groove that sucks you into its multifaceted depths.
Beth Lydi has had a meteoric rise over the last few years, with releases on DIRTYBIRD, Desert Hearts and her own SNOE – which she co-runs with Andreas Henneberg – propelling her into the spotlight. Sitting somewhere between deep, hypnotic techno and visceral tech house, her remix of Sisyphos is a dark and twisted delight, ripe for basements raves thanks to its raw beats, propulsive groove and head scrambling breakdown.
Nesa Azadikhah is a Tehran-based DJ, music producer, composer, sound artist, and musician. After making her club debut at the age of sixteen she has established herself as one of Tehran’s most in-demand electronic artists, and is a passionate advocate for Iranian electronic musicians worldwide. Nesa has gone above and beyond for Burnheart Remixed, providing two exquisite, distinct remixes of Never Let Me Go. The 4am Remix is a darkly atmospheric, progressive-leaning house cut which employs warped vocals and eerie field-like recordings to build a sinister tension, while her 9am Remix drops skittering breakbeats and ethereal pads which flips the darkness of her first mix into something approaching hope and catharsis.
Finally, UK-based producer, percussionist, DJ and sound engineer Pilo Adami provides a striking new version of Silence is Golden. Structured around a 4/4 beat, Pilo’s version is ablaze with colour and energy, with chopped vocals blended with chants, jazz-inspired instrumentation and intricate percussive rhythms giving way to a gorgeous, drum-led climax.
The theme of the Berlin scene made the search quite clear and as Beth Lydi is a good friend in Berlin: I very quickly connected with her. Pilo Adami was the third person who came through with his remix. As he has Brazilian influences as well as a strong UK jazz standing, his track adds something that ties the collection to the UK as well as showcasing his great sense for rhythm and percussion. Pilo is a dear friend and I was thrilled to have him excited about digging into my most complex composition.
My fourth star was Nesa Azadikhah who I found through a music video by Berlin-based Iranian musician Mentrix. She had done the music production for the song and I was quickly convinced that she had to be my final remixer. Again it turned out she is a very nice person and swiftly responded. She also agreed to do a remix of Never Let Me Go which had been the track I had been hoping would get remixed the most.”
In addition to the release of the EP, the Acid Pauli remix is accompanied by an incredible, visually arresting music video which reimagines the Greek myth of Sisyphos, who was condemned to repeat the same task, day after day.
Conceived and directed by Sorcha Kennedy, she says of her inspiration: “In this life, we repeat, we loop, we cycle, we create, we destroy. To create in the hope that the creation will never age or decay is to deny the fundamental truth of this earthly life. The idea of being condemned to “meaningless” tasks without end touches us, I think, due to an existential anxiety that our lives are entrenched in cycles of repetition. In this piece I wanted to create a new myth - to explore these two perspectives. Someone whose creations are destroyed as fast as she can create.”
