Adja is Brussels-based creator, singer and performer Adja Fassa, an
artist rapidly making a name for herself in Belgium and a
multidisciplinary with big plans. On the 24th February, she is set to
release her debut EP ‘IRONEYE’ via the groove-obssessed Sdban Ultra.
In a direct line from her personal growth to her artistic practice, Adja
translates through jazz, soul, gospel and her ever-expanding and
transforming experience of reality, simultaneously using the creative
process as a vehicle to make known to herself the answer to those inner
questions. Her goal: making her spiritual path in this life as tangible
as possible. A force of nature on stage with warm, sensual vocals, Adja
is evocative of artists such as Erykah Badu, Solange and Lianne La
Havas.
Besides being a musician, Fassa is also a theatremaker, working towards
what she calls "Sophisticated Soul in a hybrid concert format.” Her
music takes centre stage, with her live shows gradually taking on an
evolving theatrical character: telling stories through song, accompanied
by sensory elements such as scent and symbolic images. All this stems
from a desire to shed light on the plane of existence between everyday
existence and the hidden stories from our collective memory.
On her music, Adja adds, “I am exploring what 'spirituality' means in
this society, in the here and now. This, by not only treating it as an
elusive abstract thing, but exploring how to make it as tangible as
possible, which for myself means sharing sincere self-reflection with
the outside world. I hope in that way to support those who are searching
for the trigger to their own catharsis, as I wish to be one of many
artists at service of those who are actively searching, actively trying
to evolve. I hope some of those people resonate with my music and feel
it moves them in the way they need to open up and start a new
conversation with themselves, at whatever point they are in their life. I
believe the first step to a better world is to look inward, but there
is no reason we can’t do that together and share some laughs and cries
while we do so.”
On stunning lead single ‘Told you so” she states, “‘Told you so’ is a
song about integrity. In a way, I feel blessed with a curse. The curse
of rapid failure when I deviate from what is true to me: It seems that,
whenever I am - purposely or unpurposely - dishonest with myself, I
crash and burn really fast. A blessing in that sense that it seems my
Soul's purpose does not let me waste time, a curse because it means that
the teachings of life rarely feel like a gentle push and often like a
slap in the face.”
From a young age, Fassa always tried to understand the deeper layers in
herself and others. A traveller in heart and soul, she studied theatre
at KASK in Ghent and then in 2015, travelled to India and Nepal to
immerse herself in yoga and other practices focused on the
(sub)consciousness. Returning to Belgium to study jazz and vocals at the
Leuven Conservatory, she began to combine her singing, theatre, and
physical performance. She won the prestigious Sound Track competition for young talents in Flanders in 2021.
Tacklist:
1. Told you so
2. To be naive
3. Default mode (interlude)
4. SambaFassa
5. What we are not supposed to feel
*Bonus (Told You So - Live)