The Swiss band Illumishade, which uniquely originated as a school project, has now reached the significant milestone of releasing its challenging second album. In an interview, singer Fabienne Erni discusses the journey.
Illumishade was initially Fabienne’s final project for the ZhdK art school. All members of the band studied at this institution, and Fabienne, along with guitarist Jonas Wolf, are old acquaintances from Eluveitie. The debut album also emerged under somewhat unusual circumstances when Eclyptic: Wake Of Shadows was released through crowdfunding amidst the pandemic.
The second album, Another Side of You, will be released on February 16th. According to Fabienne, the new album is a more experimental and open collection of songs in contrast to the first album, which was constrained by its theme and adherence to it. On the lyrical side, there has been a shift from fantasy to the real world and more mundane themes.
The songs for the new album were created in two stages, with some of the tracks being a couple of years old, but to finalize the album, the entire band headed to an alpine cabin to write the remaining songs. According to the singer, retreating to a cabin in the Alps actually helps maintain focus, as long as the work retains structure and thought; otherwise, the result might be “messy.”
Illumishade is next headed on a North American tour with Korpiklaani. They are also gradually starting to think about a third album, and Fabienne hints only that the story might return to the fantasy world the band created with their debut. The singer shares that it’s too early to specify the musical direction, but there is a desire to try a heavier approach with the upcoming material.
Illumishade interview 08.02.2024
Fabienne Erni
Producer: Janne Vuorela
https://www.illumishade.ch/
Picture: Illumishade
