Who's that?

"YAVb" ("YAVb") is a new musical project of singer Yolka. What is it? Why? Well...

The fact is that in today's pop music industry there are too many 20-year-old idols and... inexcusably little room for the forgotten by many, but once so popular stars of the noughties... To gather a fanatical audience - you need to become famous at least on YouTube! And for this you need to take a thorough approach to forming: new phrases, meanings, ideas, images... In fact - everything is simple: those who are able to modernise themselves survive.

Here and singer Yolka did not contradict the trends, and just took and... burst on stage in a new image!

Biography of Yeolka

First, let's refresh our memory and... talk a little bit about the heroine of the sensational project herself!

Elizaveta Ivantsiv is a Ukrainian and Russian singer, whose hit song "Provence" (or at least "On a Big Balloon") is known to everyone!

In 2004 Elizaveta signed her first major contract with Vlad Valov, took the pseudonym "Yolka" and released her debut album "City of Deception". The release was a success and the beginning of a promising career! A little later, two more releases saw the light, though... none of them was as successful as the debut.

In the period from 2010 to 2012, Yolka participated in the project "X-Factor", as a member of the jury. During the same period, the singer releases her most successful hit "Provence", which brings her 3 nominations at once at the "Muz-TV" awards!

Success slowly began to return, and the fourth studio album, "Dots Are Spread", released soon after, found fervent acclaim among audiences and critics alike... As a result, it was named the best pop album of 2011 by such influential publications as Afisha, Time Out and Interview! According to the results of 2012, Yolka was recognised as the most rotated artist on Russian radio stations!

Today Elizaveta Ivantsiv is a seven-time winner of the Golden Gramophone music award and a nominee of the Russia Music Awards of the MTV channel. She is one of the three most successful figures in Ukrainian show business, and has been recognised as the singer of the year several times!

And so, in 2018, Yolka loudly announced her project "YAVb", which has already caught the attention of the general public!

Project JAVb

"Not to rust, not to disappear in the emotional meat grinder, not to become a cynic" - this is the message Yolka put into her project. According to the singer herself, "YAVb" is a reflection of her personal, one could say intimate side....

Curiously enough, but Elizaveta Ivantsiv claims that the emergence of a new alternative indie project is not related to trends... According to the singer, - she has long wanted to give life to a parallel art. Plus, our heroine has always been inspired by Portishead, Tricky and, of course, Björk... These are the 3 main icons that influenced the birth of "YAVb".

The history of the project itself began with the song "Cure My Love", which was successfully recorded and published on the Internet for free listening. The same happened with the track "One in the field is a warrior", which also safely went to free swimming and... soon sounded on "Dancing on TNT"! Such a development of events began to strain Lisa....

"I didn't realise how a project could exist without a name! I wanted listeners to enjoy the music, not be confused by guessing a particular image..."

So, absolutely relaxed and measured Lisa continued to record new tracks, being sure that for a full album of material will not accumulate ...

"That summer was truly magical... I had so many sources of inspiration! The last tracks were recorded in the studio literally in a few hours! It was difficult not so much physically, but mentally...".

By the way: famous artists of Ukraine also worked on the project: producers Tomasz Lukacs and Jay, ex-soloist of "VIA Gry" Daria Medovaya.

"Some I've known for a long time, some I met for the first time just the day before... But we worked so intuitively, organically... I immediately realised: this is 'it'" - commented Yolka.

As for YAVb's stage outfits, this is a separate topic. All of them were designed by Alisa Gagarina, an artist and two-time Best of Russia winner! When working, the girl used various materials and the most daring combinations of them: plastic, feathers, leather... Well: we pay tribute! Alisa made incredible costumes, which shout loudly about "YAVb" - a project with insightful lyrics, beats that take you far away and gorgeous vocals....

"In this day and age, girls need to bare their inner strength. It's time for girls to let go of their fears, and boldly move forward," commented Alice.

What about the name? It turns out that "YAVb" is an Old Slavonic word that accidentally caught up with Yelka on the road:

"In this way I wanted to draw attention to the fact that actually - we all exist more, not live..."

As Lisa states - you need to be able to enjoy every moment! We should not make ourselves automatic, or even worse, fall into a routine. So "IAVb" is a reminder to all of us about awareness, joy and belief in miracles!

Debut album "YAVY"

The debut album "YAVb" was presented in January 2019. On the solemn day of the presentation, Yolka appeared in public for the first time in a new image...

The very next day "YAVY" reached the top positions of the iTunes chart! The singer herself, who has long been accustomed to applause, could not help but tear up:

"I didn't even think about whether this music would find a resonance in the hearts of listeners... I was just head over heels in my work, that's all... It's a big shock to me..."

But many listeners are still tormented by the question: why was it necessary to create all this mystery...? But listen to "YAVY" and the answer is obvious: if Yeolka had included this music in her traditional discography, the public would immediately ask: "Why? What do you mean? Where are the groovy tunes and hits?"

Yes, the electronica and trip-hop motifs combined with the mermaid vocals are beautiful! And yes: because of the love for the singer, this album will be listened to by many more people than just connoisseurs of this genre... But! The listeners will be left with ambivalent impressions... So the reason why Yolka created a separate project and released an album on his behalf is obvious.

Tracks from the album

Well - it's time to take a look at the track list from the album "YAVY". It's worth noting at once that each track has a completely ordinary title. The only thing that catches the eye is the fact that it is written in big letters. Today such a "highlight" is at the peak of popularity among musicians: despite the message, the title looks catchy and stands out noticeably against the background of other tracks. Except that not seldom the formula works: "the bigger the letters, the smaller the songs". But it can't be said about the album "YAVI"...

The tracks from "Yavb" are difficult to classify as hip-hop. Rather, they are reminiscent of FKA Twigs. Yolka sings smoothly, as monotonous as possible... Sometimes she adds vocal transitions - so that the listener doesn't get bored!

In fact - the work of "YAVb" is colossally different from the traditional style of Yolka: here you will not hear the usual angularity or self-irony, a hit motif or a sticky chorus... A kind of relaxation....

Composition "Beregom" - JAVb & Gruppa Skryptonite

Cool fit with Skryptonite... And now let's turn to the equally beautiful, as well as unexpected for everyone version of the track "BEREGOM"! The composition was recorded by "YAVb" together with the group Skryptonite (Gruppa Skryptonite). It turned out very cool... Absolute immersion in trance and feeling as if you fell into semi-meditation... And yes: not a hint of rap! In general: goosebumps are guaranteed...

If everything is clear with the style of "YAVb", then Gruppa Skryptonite decided to experiment by recording this fit. Well: it will be great if the guys explore the most unexpected creative paths for themselves...

A little bit about Skryptonite

The group Skryptonite was founded and named by Kazakh rapper Skryptonite (real name - Adil). The guy was born and grew up in an ordinary family. In primary school Adil liked to draw and play in productions, and in higher grades he was not on a joke keen on music... At the age of 15 Adil wrote his first rap track.

Having entered an art school at the insistence of his parents to become a master artist, Adil continued to write songs, which eventually became his vocation. Thus, the guy sold his works to more famous performers, thanks to which even then he began to earn much more than his parents...

Today Skryptonite is known in musical circles as a producer. In 2018, he founded his own project called Gruppa Skryptonite, and a year later he started to actively pursue a solo career.

In December 2019, the rapper released his fourth studio album with the succinct title '2004'. In his interview, he said:

"I started working on this release about a year ago. I didn't plan to record a rap album, but for some reason the new tracks were surprisingly easy to write! This is the first album that I created all the music myself..."

Conclusion

Fans of the beloved Yolka can sleep easy: the singer is not going anywhere - within the framework of the project "YAVb" she is only exploring the expanses of experimental sound, discovering new possibilities and ideas... As Lisa herself admitted, - the new image takes her back to her younger years, when she, twenty-two years old and enthusiastic, went on stage and was full of different emotions:

"It's the perfect adrenaline rush! I am extremely happy that I managed to keep it in me! And now, with the help of YAVb, I can share it with people!"