ALBUM “Tales Of A Hundred Thoughts”
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On her brand new album “Tales Of A Hundred Thoughts”, Irina Kühn alias Plain Folly takes us into her very own Neverland. Her melancholic, dramatic, cascading indie pop quickly makes one thing clear, however: this is not the cheerful Disney version full of fairy dust. Neverland may not yet have burned down, but it’s a whole lot more disillusioned. Time is ticking like the clock in the crocodile, ticking for all of us, our lives passing us by as we escape to imaginary castles made of sand.
In dramatically undulating, powerfully cinematic songs, Irina Kühn tells of transience, disillusion and of the fading of magic. Plain Folly is her baby, hers alone. Her music is her catharsis, the songs written and arranged by herself, recorded with producer Tom Schenk. Piano, guitar, synths and Moritz Müller’s accentuating drums draw a meaningful, foreboding, soaring coordinate system in which Tori Amos, Phoebe Bridgers, Hayley Williams and Florence + the Machine can be cited as reference points. However, Plain Folly is moving on her own straight curve – not least because of her full, versatile voice. “Tales Of A Hundred Thoughts” confronts serious topics with disarming honesty and intimate openness, wrapping existential questions in achingly beautiful, somberly shimmering, wholesome indie gems.
TALES OF A HUNDRED THOUGHTS – LISTEN ON SPOTIFY:
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Release Date: 05 July 2024
EAN/GTIN/UPC: 4068992113982
Labelcode: LC24625
Genre: Indiepop, Artpop, Modern Rock
Moods: melancholic, desperate, energetic, dynamic
Download Cover: Plain Folly – TOAHT (JPG, RGB)
Download Logo: Plain Folly Logo (PNG)
Download Press Pics: Plain Folly Press Pics (JPG, RGB)
CREDITS
Music & Lyrics by Irina Kühn
Vocals, Piano, Keys, Guitars, Bass by Irina Kühn
Drums by Moritz Müller
Solo Guitar on “Breaking Clocks” by Andy Newman
Violin on “Still Here” by Sabrina Achstetter
Cello on “Still Here” by Göran Unzner
Programming and Synths on “Devote” by Tom Schenk & Irina Kühn
Recording, Engineering, Mix & Mastering by Tom Schenk
Additional Recordings by Irina Kühn
Produced by Tom Schenk (tankraum Studio)
ABOUT PLAIN FOLLY
Plain Folly is many things. Unadjusted, thoughtful, sometimes dreamy, sometimes eruptive. But above all: DIY as fuck exclusively. Irina Kühn aka Plain Folly writes her own songs, plays almost all instruments herself, even partly produces her own music. Her melancholic pulsating indie prism creates its very own niche between Fiona Apple, Phoebe Bridgers and Florence + the Machine, carried by her versatile voice and her artful piano craft. Thus, her music becomes strikingly deep, a surging ocean of associations and emotions, sometimes beautiful and sometimes threatening. There is light, but not without shadow. There is pain, but not without hope. Sometimes shape-shifting as feather-light, sometimes as driving indie pop with a focus on her powerful voice and her great talent on the black and white keys, sometimes as an eruptive rock catharsis, and sometimes as an urban trip-hop fairy-tale. Her new album, due out in 2024, sets self-doubt and transience to music, boldly facing the storms of life alone despite all their heaviness – a wholesome, musically beguiling act of self-empowerment. Plain Folly: against all odds forevermore. And a fabulously exciting new indie discovery.
TALES OF A HUNDRED THOUGHTS
Track by Track
1 BETWEEN THE LINES
“A story ‘bout the sun and moon”: Foreboding sounds and mantraesque vocals set the stage for Plain Folly’s new album. But what sounds lighthearted, almost fairytale-like, will soon lose its innocence: “Words will fail me finally and reveal what’s between the lines.” It’s never just the lyrics. It’s always the music, too. The curtain raises.
2 STILL HERE
We don’t really move. We run, but without a destination. We are Sisyphus day in and day out: “Still Here” describes the paralysing feeling of trundling through this ridiculously short life without orientation. Quicksand thoughts, written during a dark period when Plain Folly couldn’t get off the ground. An evocative verse opens into a big, surging chorus, accented by violin and cello: “A hundred ways but still no road to take – A hundred thoughts but still no words to say”.
3 OUT OF TUNE
The evocative “Out Of Tune” oscillates between Kate Bush and Tori Amos. Part lullaby and part Southern saloon ballad with a ravishing piano arrangement, Plain Folly takes a strikingly offensive, physical, demanding approach here: A blazing, desiring, decidedly feminine love song about two people who can’t let go of each other. Although they really should. Plain Folly’s very personal Murder Ballad between Ravel and Americana.
4 PHOSPHOR
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve liked to escape into fantasy worlds when the real world was unsatisfactory,” says Irina Kühn about the inspiration for “Phosphor”, her very own never-never land. Here she explores the differences between escapism and loss of reality on a journey into her own subconscious. Being Plain Folly: Wavy synths, lush Eighties drums and shimmering energy accentuate the toxic trip into her inner ego. “I’m wishin’ for somethin’ that I won’t ever have – But closin’ my eyes I can see the lights.”
5 DEVOTE
With “Devote”, Irina Kühn has stirred up the very essence of her emotions, plunging into the long dark night of the soul. What begins cooly electronically and darkly meandering, oscillates from silver hope back into deep twitching shadows. From self-empowerment to self-sacrifice in one single step – “Devote” is a darkly shimmering soundtrack, engulfed by desperate, worn-out vocals. Not exactly light fare.
6 APART
“Apart” is a gripping song about the walls around us. About the trenches we’ve drawn, intentionally or unknowingly, and now can’t seem to bridge anymore. A tense, feverish trip-hop aura slightly reminding of Golfrapp underscores the bewitched, otherworldly conundrum between the separation of two people and an alienation from oneself. “Fix your within to find your way out”: a song like a mantra.
7 BREAKING CLOCKS
“But there must be something more”: With “Breaking Clocks” Plain Folly has created a furious, passionate indie anthem against self-doubt and resignation. “Time goes by and goes by and I feel that my life is not going the way I would like it to. And what do I do? I try to ignore it and smile it away,” says Irina Kühn about the first song she ever wrote for Plain Folly. Pushing drums, an untamed piano and her piercing vocals spread a stirring carpe diem thought despite all that bleak memento mori mood: My life belongs to me, and to me alone. Self-empowerment has rarely sounded that engaging.
CONTACT
Plain Folly | Irina Kühn
In den Ringelgärten 24
D-70374 Stuttgart
Mobile: +49 178 4723961
Mail: contact@plainfolly.com
Copyright: 2024 by Plain Folly