Ne Lépj a Virágra

A year and a half has passed since Slovak-Hungarian artist Adela Mede self-released her debut album 'Szabadság'. Its liner notes described it as "a navigation", a search through "the personal, familial, cultural, folkloric and geographic of her past and present." Her second album, 'Ne Lépj a Virágra' no longer searches; here, she puts down roots and delves deeper into the earthy reality of her home, Central Europe.

Where the strength of 'Szabadság' laid in its abstract, fleeting moments, 'Ne Lépj a Virágra' is more patient and determined. Adela Mede embellishes carefully crafted songs with minimalist and folklore influences, but also embraces more experimental approaches. The result is a collection of quite varied yet consistent pieces which highlight Mede's proficiency as a singer, arranger, producer and improviser. Throughout, it's her voice that shines through – it's dominant and centre-stage, and an expression of the Bratislava-based artist's universal language which transcends borders and animosities and describes a reality beyond the confines of our individual experiences. This is "Central European music", at its most complex, striking and meaningful.

Composed and recorded during the last 18 months in Bratislava, Slovakia – a city where three countries meet, where the East and the West collide – 'Ne Lépj a Virárga' translates to "don't step on the flower". Its themes – budding potential, recognizing the beauty in the ordinary, solidarity, turning despair into hope – emerged through Mede's wholehearted involvement with her community, teaching singing to both children and adults, and various grassroots volunteering initiatives. Her closest collaborators are local: young accordionist Jakub Smiček, singing student Marta Canderle ("Sing With Us"), neighbour Kvet Nguyen (cover art and photography) and two Slovak experimental music lighthouses: Warm Winters Ltd. and mappa.

The opening piece "Sing With Me" is an introspective invitation, a swirling piece of hypnotic vocalisations and a dizzying beginning to this new world. "Száz Fele Nézek" introduces a new timbre which appears throughout the album – the accordion. Mournful, expansive and raw, its pastoral bellows are a counterpoint to Mede's stark vocals. She changes pace quickly though: "Hol A Tavasz" is a disorienting, mesmeric, dream-like piece composed in collaboration with Polish artist Martyna Basta utilising field recordings, zither, heavily processed vocals and electronics.

On perhaps the most striking and disconcerting piece of the whole album, "What The Heart Sees Not", Mede sings wistfully over a mangled, distorted violin sample, only to relieve the tension completely in the heartrending yet hope-tinged "Ne Lépj Rá", a bewildering ballad where she rhymes Hungarian, Slovak and English with inexplicable ease. It's a most unusual approach (perhaps never done before in this context), a testament to Mede's unique perspective to the reality of this region: where others see incurable wounds, she sees an opportunity for growth and even complementarity. "Nestoj Nado Mnou" featuring Wojciech Rusin is a compelling piece where Mede's stretched vocals and Rusin's abstract electronics muddle the waters, only for the album to close with "Sing With Us", a crystal clear piece written by the artist for her singing student. Performed and recorded in a hallway of a block of flats, here Adela Mede signifies that she no longer stands alone. She's alongside others, and she wants you to join too.

'Ne Lépj a Virágra' is a grounded, confident next step for Adela Mede. Whether her vocals are naked, heavily processed, warped and reversed, or looped and layered; whether the production is sparse and minimalist or overwhelming and swampy; none of that changes the fact that the gentle tentativeness of her debut is gone. Mede sings in three languages with newfound conviction and grace. 'Ne Lépj a Virágra' is an album of profound faith and confidence in the potential of this fertile soil.