In November 2014, We Draw A’s debut album won over music critics and audiences alike. Błażej Król, an artist who successfully combines subtle, intuitive lyrics with dramatic and somewhat mysterious sounds, listed Moments as his favourite album of the year. A fan of exotic hits from the 80s, Król is moving towards pop music with increasing determination, and it seems that when he gets there, he will meet We Draw A.
Despite the enormous potential of Moments, the artists chose not to promote the album, and avoided interviews and photos. The duo are signed by the Brennnessel record label. The band cooperates with Kamp! and Rebeka, kings of the electronic underground, as well as with the youngsters from Oxford Drama.
The duo debuted in 2013 with the four-song EP Whirls and the hit Tears From The Sun, followed by another EP entitled Glimpse. What was surprising at that stage was the band’s gentleness, completely unlike the aggressive Rebeka or the danceable Kamp!. It was as if the musicians wanted to create a dreamy, quiet branch of the Brennnessel label. The sounds of the guitar stand out in the timid, minimalist songs, like the meandering melody in Bound To Love.
This was just the beginning, because Moments already reflects a complete vision of twenty-first century pop. It contains romantic pieces similar to Król, wonderfully melodic songs, and even references to Western music recorded in private city bedrooms by independent folk and electronic artists.
Bartek Chaciński from Polityka praised We Draw A:
At this stage, the duo has developed its own style, which uses the spirit of dance songs to create pieces with sometimes very unusual, and at the same time quite natural structures. In my opinion this is one of the most promising visions of contemporary pop music in recent years, no worse than the acclaimed stories of the likes of Caribou.
Remaining faithful to their toned down expression, We Draw A have produced almost krautrock compositions. This refers to the tracks Lowbanks and On Sight, which close the album, and which do not become boring even for a moment despite running for 17 minutes. These songs give a taste of what We Draw A’s concerts are like. There is no more talk about walking on tiptoe. The synthesisers, resting on the strong rhythms of the duo’s performances, are arranged so as to draw the audience to the floor, put them into a trance, and create a kind of a common rave-like experience, which also satiates the intellectual hunger.
The band’s vinyl single City / Debris released in 2014 by Antena Krzyku, attracted not only fans: it's proof of the esteem the duo enjoys in independent music circles.
In late March the EP Jumbo Love was released, which includes several remixes in addition to the title track. They were prepared by artists such as Oxford Drama, T’ien Lai (a hissing, rainy variant of Reflect), Venter (a more spacious Jumbo Love) and Viadrina (a dance version of Reflect). Olivier Heim played his version of City.
Author: Jacek Świąder, transl. Bozhana Nikolova, April 2015
- 2013 – Glimpse + Whirls (released in limited edition CD, compilation of two EPs)
- 2014 – Moments
- 2013 – Whirls EP
- 2013 – Glimpse EP
- 2015 – Jumbo Love EP