Skinjobs – Queen City Sounds and Art

Former Skinjobs vocalist Katja Vale has been releasing solo tracks in 2021 and her latest is “Water Serpents.” With an array of synth swells and layers of ethereal melody and a vocal line that rises and falls with subtle dynamics, Vale offers a song that seems to use the image of mythological creatures as metaphor for the ways people trap and define other people to suit their own needs even as a core human instinct for freedom will unwind that influence and power in the end. Vale sings of the ways we internalize this attempt to control through guilt and people pleasing and a natural desire to do no harm but in the context of a toxic relationship not harming the situation isn’t a sustainable way of being. The song’s downtempo moods and slow-coiling synth line punctuated by bright tonal accents truly makes this song of quiet personal liberation stand out. Listen to “Water Serpents” on Spotify below and follow Vale at the links provided.

Skinjobs2_sm — Skinjobs, photo courtesy the artists

On its new single “Breathe,” Helsinki’s Skinjobs injects some more grit into its bright, atmospheric melodies. Fitting for a song that explores the nature of a relationship with complicated dynamics that go beyond the boundaries of the traditional relationship and traditional conceptualizations of what relationships should be. Katja Laaksonen’s vocals are commanding and controlled, directed and pointed in deflating the hypocrisy of conventional sexual mores through highlighting how people often really live while articulating the rawness and undeniability of attraction. It’s a subject often written about in rock music but rarely so candidly and unapologetically. The fiery music bursting about the words and raw noise searing the edges of the song are the perfect manifestation of the lyrics. Listen to “Breathe” on Soundcloud, watch the lyric video on YouTube and follow Skinjobs at the links provided.