Short story collection: “The Blessing” by Edna Million

The debut album from Viennese newcomer Edna Million is here: 10 dark, folky and catchy songs, composed in a completely simple way of a sonorous voice and guitar.

Written by Katharina Seidler

Red lips, striped shirt, knotted scarf: this is what Ida Turek looks like when she transforms into Edna Million. The young Viennese woman knows how true the situation is and how trivial the truth is. Pop music as a game of roles and truths was understood by Edna Million. She writes her music from an outsider's perspective, as a newcomer to Berlin, as a hidden observer of the world. Even her exposed position as a solo artist, that is, as the sole recipient of attention on stage, does not change this: “The stage also acts as a kind of wall,” she says in the interview after a pause for reflection. Also around his neck during the interview: a knotted scarf, red lips and a striped shirt. Edna Million in a dead suit.

The fact that she prefers to write in English rather than in her native languages, German and Swedish, also creates an additional door between what is meant and what is said. From this safe distance, dark cinematic songs emerge. It always starts with an image, for example, a scene from a big city. In the lantern light, the setting appears sepia, behind which the pub door will likely soon open.

The following are sitting there: Angry poet And a The actress is out of line, as well as Tom Waits, whose stage name Ida Turek borrowed from her song “Jockey full of Bourbon,” as well as punk poets Patti Smith and PJ Harvey, who are among the young musician's declared heroines. What they have in common with them is precision in script writing as well as indomitable artistic ability. Edna Million's songs derive their magic from the absolute simplicity of guitar and voice.

And what is this sound? She is deep and natural, but above all she is quiet and tells her stories with a relaxed earnestness. “I actually only contribute to it by not changing it,” Edna Million says in an interview. “I don't try to sing better or more beautifully, I just let them do it.”

Even the whirlwind of the last year and a half could not shake this indifferent calm: Edna Million self-published her first 4 songs in the fall of 2022, collected a few clicks and became an insider tip. This was followed a few months later: a concert at Popfest in Karlskirche, then another at the Vienna Konzerthaus, a label contract with the Medienmanufaktur label, where Der Nino is also released from Vienna. Ernest Molden, also a role model for the young musician, contributes shy guitar riffs to the album's singles.

“The Pool,” Edna Million’s debut album, is a collection of stories, hazy memories and snapshots of all-nighters. These memories vary from person to person, which is why the artist prefers to leave as much room for interpretation as possible musically. She believes that any additional track, such as percussion or bass, would set the mood too much. The camera does not capture reality in its entirety. Rather, their outlook creates a world of their own.