"Secret Garden", the new darkly romantic chamber-pop by Petra Jasmiina

Petra Jasmiina (Photo credit: Victor V. Gurbo)

The fabled novel "Secret Garden" was one of my favorite books when I was a kid but forget about it, Petra Jasmiina's newest release of the same name has nothing to do with childish memories and sunny gardens! Get ready to enter a much darker place with her audio-visual storyscape opening a gateway to a hidden garden - a secret oasis filled with lush greens, peculiar creatures and alluring flowers, each more beautiful than the last. But in this garden no bloom or petal is quite as it seems - something dark grows here, as well...

"The gate is wide open... walk in if you dare"

"Secret Garden" is a great example of Jasmiina’s artistic signatures: her knack for escapist storytelling in song and on screen, as well as her niche genre, best described by her collaborators as "fairytale pop". The inspiration for the song came from a friend’s retelling of their art therapy session that evoked such imaginative imagery of a beautifully poisonous garden, that the song, according to the artist, wrote itself in 10 minutes.

Petra is one of the first musicians I met when I was on Instagram looking for new music to listen to, way before Laura Meets Musicians was born. What impresses me is that she is the true definition of "artist" - when she puts her artistry out in the world, she doesn't just "release a song". She creates a whole audio and visual experience for the listener/viewer that is completely different for each of her releases, somehow managing to make it feel like reading a book. It's an experience that involves all the senses, always reaching the goal she had set for the song: making listeners feel a certain emotion/feeling. You can clearly see it in her earlier releases like "YCHM" and "Naive", whose video won Best Music Video at MUSE Awards, European Music Awards and New Creators Film Awards. "Secret Garden" is no exception: with its haunting poetry and captivating instrumentals, it brings the listeners to an unsettling place where nothing is quite as it seems and Petra's evocative vocals put a spell that captures ears and hearts.

The symphonic piece of darkly romantic chamber-pop was then arranged, recorded and produced by the artist herself in her New York home studio and features beloved New York musicians Scott Tran, on violin, and Katie Chambers, on cello. The track was mastered by Craig Levy at the Little Pioneer Cider House studios in Hell’s Kitchen.

Like her past releases, the story bleeds over to film as well. The official video by Aleksei Postnikov, starring Estonian dancer Diina Tamm, is out now and looks haunting enough to be perfect for the Halloween atmosphere that is approaching!

 

Petra Jasmiina Haapamäki, born in Helsinki, Finland, started writing songs when she was only nine years old. Thanks to a musical family, piano lessons, modern dance and singing had been a part of her life ever since she could remember, but how she started writing songs is a mystery. "I have no idea how it began, but it was like writing a diary. I didn't see it as a hobby or a craft at the time - just as something I needed to do, constantly, to process life and the world around me". Big dreams about a career in music were always present, but after graduating high school life took her elsewhere - to work in Spain, Greece, Turkey and Thailand, to be exact. So far, nobody knew she had been writing songs for a decade, much less heard any of them. After some years of travelling the world, she decided to change that. In 2015, the 25-year-old left behind her career in tourism as well as friends and family, and booked a flight across the Atlantic.

"Now that I think of it, it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I had no job, no apartment and knew no-one in the city. I had barely researched visas, job permits or apartment prices. But there have been a few of those moments in my life, when logic or practicalities just don’t matter and it’s like I have no choice. I had to do it. Realizing I needed to make music was not different. Even with all the chaos and uncertainty that might follow, they are perfect moments of clarity". Petra is also the founder of Petrafied Production, a new production company for the independent artists that needs help to fully expand their creative potential. Last but not at least, she is also a cast member and an Associate Producer of Kalevala The Musical, a Broadway production based on the Finnish National Epic. The creator of the musical, Johanna Telander says "Petra is a welcomed, bright new voice in the world of singer-songwriters. Her honest, reflective songs are catchy and relatable with just the right amount of Nordic Twist. What she brings musically can only be matched by her intelligence, drive and SISU".

Petra Jasmiina (Photo credit: Victor V. Gurbo)

Instagram: @petra.jasmiina

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