Growing in a suburb of Athens, as a child Stella Chronopoulou could view both the ocean and the surrounding mountains. The sheep and goats being her alarm clock, her parents let her roam freely without permission around streets where cars were barely present but houses with unlocked doors were aplenty. This tranquil childhood which the Greek musician has recently had a nostalgia trip for – after a hectic period of personal problems – is captured in the mood and lyrics of Σtella’s fifth album Adagio. The name given to the new record, as well as the LP’s opening track, means “slow time.” Σtella is both handing out to listeners an invitation to her Greek adolescence, and sending a message that if things are done slowly they can be done better and with a sense of appreciation. One case in point being that Adagio was composed over 5 years, compared to her previous album the Redinho-produced ‘Up and Away’ taking just 2 weeks to write.
What creates this mood? Σtella’s music has always had a tropical vibe to it anyway – in the way the Athenian utilises synths (on this album she enjoys the versality of INTEGRA-7) and flavouring in with Greek instruments, and thus giving city dwellers a taste of somewhere more exotic. It created a jolly and upbeat playing-volleyball-in-the-stand environment. However on Adagio, the pace is dialled down (more of a campfire activity on a beach) and her connection with her Greek roots is more celebrated.
“Message in a bottle, I feel like Aristole” from ‘Too Poor’ is an obvious hint to Greek mythology. The funky bass points towards the sound of her previous album Up and Away but interestingly used short bursts of other instruments; a slide of cithara there and a sudden trumpet there. To further show her connection back home, Σtella sings in Greek for the first time in her album history. On two consecutive tracks in fact. There is the almost-identical cover of Litsa Sakellariou’s ‘Ta Vimata’ – a very important song in Greek music because it pioneered a 1960s/1970s music scene known as Greek New Wave. This is followed by the Greek-language ‘Omorfo Mou’. A Greek phrase that means “my beautiful one”, it‘s a song that promotes the idea of showing gratitude for something precious in one’s life. The song typifies Σtella’s masterful blending of fun modern synth-pop with a spice of Hellenes. Title track ‘Adagio’ is a love letter to slow childhood life (“Shall I return? Now what have I learned Gazing into your eyes? Free as I stand without a plan. Searching for paradise”). If this seems a little odd, then the love letter theme is even more wayward on ‘Can I Say’. The last part of the song reveals that it’s about her stolen bike. The former pairs the drum machine with what sounds like a tzouras. While the latter uses the lyre to create a dreamy glow over the drum machine. As her previous record ‘Up and Away’ abandoned this idiosyncratic and charming duality, it’s good to have it back.
The nylon guitar performance of Rafael Cohen (dance-punk group !!!) shows that the American has read the brief well, contributing highly to creating Adagio’s peaceful countryside mood. He’s adds an appropriately warm latin tone to ‘Baby Brazil’ – a song that becomes more interesting as it progresses – that also features the marimba. However his best performance is on ‘80 Days’ because he captures the soothing idleness of a Kings of Convenience lullaby.
The final two tracks ‘Corfu’ (another nod to Greece) and ‘Caravan’ beautifully end the album. The instrumental former is completely composed with a INTEGRA-7 – which might seem like cheating when it sounds like an array of instruments (from a knocking vibraslap to a tropical guitar) but because the music is very Σtella-like, the way it’s composed doesn’t really matter. While the latter makes you imagine Khurangbin if they added a mandolin into their evolving armoury. It only 27 minutes long – Adagio might be one of the shortest albums you hear this year – but like a short yet deep nap, Adagio’s absorbing nature makes the trip to Σtella’s childhood atmosphere feel much longer.
