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Joan Thiele

Pop / Italy, Switzerland (Brescia)
Joan Thiele
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Joan Thiele

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Mace, Lorde

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soul-pop, contemporary R&B

" Laid back soul-pop with self-aware lyrics "

The joyously laid back indie soul-pop feel of Joan Thiele’s music perhaps owes something to her colourful roots and unconventional upbringing. Born in Italy, to an Italian mother and a Swiss-Colombian father, the singer-songwriter was brought up between Colombia and Canada, and later moved to the UK. That meant she was heavily immersed in different musical cultures. Catching people’s attention with her first singles, ‘Save Me’, ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Armenia’, her debut album, ‘Tango’, released in 2018, was similarly beautiful.

A mesmerizing combination of Joan’s origins: she mixes South American and tropical influences (for example in ‘Blue Tiger’, ‘Armenia Quindío’) with electro-pop (in ‘Mountain Of Love’, ‘Polite’) and lo-fi moments (‘Fire’), creating symbolic images with her stunning voice. This makes for the perfect blend, as she talks about life and the importance of embracing your true identity (“I’m my sun, my strength, my word”, she sings in the eponymous track).

Joan definitely likes playing with sounds, as well with words. No wonder she decided to release her 2020 EP, ‘Operazione Oro’ (via Undamento / Universal Music) entirely in Italian. It’s a fresh and elegant piece of work, and it’s almost cynical that although it was written through lockdown, its main theme is travelling. Then again, Joan’s music makes you think about life and its never-ending surprises.

Here, urban atmospheres coexist with Italian retro sounds and 90s slow-burn R&B that’s smoother than butter (‘Le Vacanze’ and ‘Sempre La Stessa’ are perfect examples), while blending cinematic soundscapes and electronic experimentation (‘L’Atessa’, ‘La Rivelazione’). She sounds grown up, confident, and pretty wise to the world around her – that’s also evident in her 2021 singles, ‘Atto I-Memoria del Futuro’ and ‘Atto II-Disordinato Spazio’. The balance between downright beautiful harmonies and throwaway lines gives Joan Thiele songs multiple dimensions.