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Mara & David

From the Darkness: Mara & David Find Moments of Collapse and Brightness on Call it Freedom

“It’s such hard work, sometimes,” reflects singer Mara von Ferne. “We lay down and we pace, we jam and drink cup after cup of coffee. Then there comes this magic moment from out of nowhere. It often takes a day or two, but then it all makes sense.

“Anyone in the room would notice this moment,” adds guitarist David Sick. “It’s in the air. There’s a moment when the whole thing collapses, and the idea comes. Then the song is the song.”

With an organic finesse captured in those key transformative moments, German singer-songwriter duo Mara & David meld rock drive with classical technique, turning personal trials into elegant musical statements. After a period of personal struggle—including an ongoing coming-to-terms with the duo’s visual impairments—the two musicians have found a new sense of urgency and joy on Call It Freedom (Songways/Ozella Music; release date: August 30, 2013), the follow up to Sixteen Secrets and Once We Were Gods (both on Songways/Ozella).

Mara & David’s thoughtful songs—animated by von Ferne’s sometimes earthy, sometimes delicate voice and Sick’s stunning, percussive playing—move from childhood sanctuaries (“Cherry Tree”) to personal crises (“Like A Stranger”). They grapple with the difficulties of finding an ethical, compassionate place in an unjust world (“Call it Freedom”) and with turning the dark night of the soul into a burst of breathless light.

“As we were writing these songs, there was a lot of turmoil, private and health-wise, in our lives. But we came out of the darkness to better times, though we were still feeling quite vulnerable,” von Ferne recalls.

“It was a gray dark time, but it turned into sunshine,” Sick notes. “It’s not a sad album, in the end. In fact, it’s quite positive.”

Mara and David began creating songs together seven years ago, after meeting at music school in Dresden. Their collaboration developed through hours of intense, intent rehearsal and dedication to finding that golden moment when songs take shape. That moment often comes early in the morning for the artists, during hours-long sessions together that often start at daybreak (a feeling captured in the evocative opener, “Early Morning”).

Though clearly influenced by two pioneering generations of English-language singer-songwriters, performers like Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco, Mara & David’s ears are wide open, and they are just as likely to cover Fleetwood Mac (the cheeky, sweet “Little Lies”) or Portishead (the anthemic “Glory Box”), as to draw on classical chops. On Call It Freedom, Sick tunes the two lowest strings down a fifth on his nylon-string guitar, borrowing a technique from classical guitarist and composer Agustín Barrios to boost the bass and buoy von Ferne’s voice.

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"A muscular Tuck and Patti on mushrooms." -minor7th "The new acoustic dream pair." -melodie & rhythmus
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