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Miriam Aïda – Loving the Hero

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Ten years after David Bowie’s death, Miriam Aïda goes through his songbook with warmth, curiosity and a lot of musical skill. With her own voice, a seven-string guitar and two percussionists, she and her band work their way through Bowie’s catalogue from 1969 to 2016, in bright colours and shifting rhythms.

Miriam Aïda released her Bowie album Loving the Alien in 2018. It’s full of personal versions shaped by Afro-Brazilian rhythms, a Caribbean pulse, jazz, reggae and Swedish melancholy. These are interpretations that take their cue from Bowie’s challenge to social norms and his habit of stepping outside the given frame, rather than faithful covers.

“He urges us not to compromise ourselves away, to dare to follow our hearts and stand for who we are. Keeping that close, we set out to make his songs our own,” says Miriam Aïda.

With Mats Andersson, Finn Björnulfson and Ola Bothzén she makes up an unusual line-up: vocals, seven-string classical guitar and two percussionists. It’s a tight, energetic and groovy quartet, with musicians who have worked with artists and bands such as Håkan Hellström, Damn!, Tingsek, Nisse Landgren and Stefan Sundström.

LINEUP

Miriam Aïda – vocals
Mats Andersson – seven-string guitar
Finn Björnulfson – percussion
Ola Bothzén – percussion