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THIS WEEK MUSIC maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 DECEMBER 2019 4 Established jazz singer Nadine Axisa speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about her latest album Il-Hoss tal-Ghabex, which adapts Maltese pop music numbers from the 1970s and '80s with an experimental twist A fresh sound for the local Now that you've just launched your latest release, 'Il-Hoss tal-Ghabex', how does it feel to finally have this piece of work out there? Would you say you've achieved what you set out to do with this collection of songs? It feels great to have it fi- nalised and out there for the public to enjoy and appreci- ate. This album has been a very positive but challeng- ing journey. It entailed a lot of hard work and an element of risk, which was well calcu- lated. The concept was quite ambitious and throughout the process of developing demos at their various stages, we con- tinued to realise and confirm that it was not an easy venture. However, the great teamwork, perseverance and the continu- ous determination to create a fresh sound has, in my opin- ion, led us to an interesting final product, ticking all the boxes of the requirements we set at the very beginning. I am super happy and proud of this piece of work. I believe that this album has contributed to a new and fresh sound in the local jazz scene. How would you say 'Il- Hoss tal-Ghabex' differs most significantly from its predecessor, Velvet, and what pushed you towards this particular musical direction? 'Velvet' is more oriented towards traditional jazz and consists of original compo- sitions. A few years after its launch I was eager to identify a challenging concept for a new album. I felt the need to move on to something more crea- tive, experimental and daring. So while remaining in the jazz world, this new album was meant to explore new ground, providing an opportunity for experimentation. I had been thinking of want- ing a full length album in Mal- tese this time round, and the choice of songs incidentally took us to the reworking of Maltese tunes, most of which were released in the 1970s and '80s. We took them through a process of re-imagination, a journey involving experi- mentation from a melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and sonic perspective. Sound engineer/ producer David Vella and mu- sician/composer Joe Debono were the backbone of this pro- ject. We formed a great team and relied on each other's strong points. How does drawing from popular Maltese songs from the '70s and '80s contribute to the texture of the album's sound, and what do you hope your listeners will get out of it? The songs have changed quite considerably, not only melodically, rhythmically and harmonically but also in terms of the mood created. Some of the songs may have sounded happy or uplifting in their orig- inal version, but are now given a tint of nostalgia which trans- Teodor Reljic "While remaining in the jazz world, this new album was meant to explore new ground, providing an opportunity for experimentation"