Fire from Heat

Despina was trying to write a follow-up to their 2022 record 'Gravity Games' on Kindergarten Records as they fell into a deep depression, during a harsh New York winter and against a backdrop of escalating legislative attacks on trans people in the USA. In the struggle to express themselves through music while maintaining their usual exuberant voice, they found a darker musical path, and 'Fire From Heat' is the result of exploring this path.
The title 'Fire From Heat' comes from the expression "heat from fire, fire from heat," an expression that is used by the trans community in voice training and that was popularized by YouTuber Z from TransVoiceLessons. At the same time as Despina searched for their voice as a trans, non-binary person in a country continuously stripping the rights of their trans siblings, they found an alternate, musical voice through the extensive use of human and non-human voices. This dichotomy and the interplay of both voices became a conceptual thread that runs through the entire record. These voices are countered by rhythmic constraints, undulating cyclical grooves, sinister basslines, and interruptive structures that create a delicate interplay between the imagined speaker and an idealized dancer.