- 2023-04-23
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MUSIC
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ALMA Releases New Album “Time Machine”
Finnish singer-songwriter Alma-Sofia Miettinen, aka ALMA released her sophomore album “Time Machine” along with a new music video for “Natalia” on April 21, 2023.
It is her first album in three years since the 2020 debut album “Have U Seen Her?”.
The album comprises 13-track, produced by DECCO, ELVIRA, Fat Max Gsus and A Strut. The accompanying video was directed by Niko Hirvimäki.
ALMA said of the album, “In Time Machine, I go back in time to explore the highlights and the lowlights of my life. This album's key message is finding your own voice. Going back to the start on your own, knowing your worth and asking for more from life. Every song is like an honest conversation in my head. Sometimes with my family, sometimes with my partner, sometimes even with my old classmates. Sometimes the conversations are more painful and deeper, sometimes they are light and ironic. It's honest, intense, and in-your-face.”- She continued, “To start with I don't think I ever planned to make this album in the first place before COVID. When I didn't know that COVID exists, I was ready to like go on full mode and promote my last album and you know keep on making shows. But then everything stopped and I think after many months of like doing nothing started to look back to my childhood and my teenage years. The album started to kind of write itself out to be honest a lot of the the songs I never plan to release, they're so personal. First I was just writing for myself to kind of survive the moment. My twin sister left and she went back to school. Before that we were hanging out like every day she was even touring with me and obviously COVID like forced me to stay home, yeah everything was new to me. I said on somewhere that when the world was having its darkest times I wrote my most positive album. In this music business where everybody is doing something and everybody is just trying to win. I didn't want to focus on that. This came out pretty fucking good.”
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ALMA explained some tracks for the album.
“Everything Beautiful”
“Everything beautiful was born on 2. March 2021. Everything beautiful is about the pain of growing up, not being a teenager anymore, having all these responsibilities, but for a second not giving a single fuck. Just having a good time with your best friends like you used to do. We should be successful, look good, do good, be good, caring about environment, be political, have talents, be funny and social and the list goes on and on but sometimes it's just better to not give a fuck for a second.”
“Tell Mama”
“'Tell Mama' is a song I started on the plane, just flying back to Helsinki from Los Angeles. I had to go back because of the pandemic. At the same time, I learned during the Corona period that during my career before that I had actually only ever lived for others. All I ever wanted was to make the people around me happy and proud, and I fell by the wayside. I was completely drained.
For years I'd been in the music business, doing so many sessions and gigs - and then I made music that I thought other people would enjoy. It didn't have much to do with my taste at all. It went so far that I finally burned out completely: I no longer had a clear vision, I only ever paid attention to that everyone around me was proud and happy. I don't regret any of it, but so during that flight I realized it was now or never for me.
I finally had to do something that fulfills me again. Really crazy how you can be at your peak when it comes to your career and still feel miserable. And it takes a lot of courage to go in a new direction. But I did it - and writing this song was the first step towards it. So I'm sharing my story with that, and most of all I want to encourage people to just do what they love. Your mother will always love you no matter what you do, as long as you are happy!”
“Summer Really Hurt Us”
“In 'Summer Really Hurt Us' I go back in time, I think it was summer 2018/2019 when I really felt like I lost my control. I was doing show after show and going out a lot. That mix is just not great. We're all human and when life gets too much we tend to do things that hurt us and others. I think for me the biggest lesson that summer was that I'm so privileged to have such an amazing group of friends around me. Even if I lose my control they will always be there to back me up and help me come out the other side. We are there for each other, we support each other no matter what.”
“I Forgive Me”
“It's a song that I wrote for myself when I needed to forgive me! I've always been very hard on myself. If I do something wrong or 'bad' I tend to really stay in that horrible feeling and can't really find ways to overcome those situations.
Writing helps me a lot and talking to my friends but if I hurt someone's feelings or make them feel bad for some reason I find those situations very hard to overcome. It got to a point that I was trying to make everyone like me despite that being impossible. There's always gonna be people that just don't like you or what you do. Also I think we are all such a hypocrites towards each other, so ready to judge others without knowing their story. I really do feel like talking and listening to each other and forgiveness for yourself & others is the key to find your own peace and happiness.”
“Hey Mom Hey Dad”
“As it has been a strange couple of years, it felt natural for me to start opening up about my upbringing and how it has affected my life. Some people know that I come from a dysfunctional family and until now I have never really wanted to tell my story. By dysfunctional I mean that both of my parents are in a wheelchair - my father has MS and my mother has been ill with different stuff throughout the years. It's been hard at times, and I feel like me and my twin sister had to grow up too quickly.
I can't really remember a time when I felt I could just be a kid. And when someone is struggling in your family, everyone around must take care of that person – which is even harder when it's both parents. And when your parents can't physically show you love or boundaries, it's extremely difficult, it helped me realise how important words and emotions are, which is one of the reasons why I think I started writing songs.
My parents have however taught me so much - especially about never giving up. I'm happy I can share this through my music and help my fans who are in a similar position to know they are not alone. This song is not a sad story - it's just a real story. No family is perfect, but we are all trying our best.” - source : Apple Music
