Bristol-based artist Dora Lachaise truly gives us food for thought with her effortlessly crafted songwriting and production. Latest single 'I Confess' is an intriguing mesh of story-telling, ethereal vocals and minimal electronic elements of percussion and sound design. This is an artist who creates something we haven't heard before.
Dora's music is laden with mystery and a profound narrative. Inspired by a medieval statue of Mary Magdalene, ‘I Confess’ has launched Dora into the semi-finals of the Dutch national ‘Art Rocks’ competition. “Mary Magdalene’s story was used to pressure girls and women into behaving in a certain way;" she explains. "I wanted to lend my voice to Mary to defend herself, because even today, women are judged by outdated ideas.”
Dora Lachaise might be mysterious but she is no muse. If any muse at all, she is entirely her own. She picked her pseudonym to honour Dora Maar, a French surrealist photographer. “For a long time, she was remembered as one of Picasso’s muses,” Dora says. “But she was so much more than that – her photography was experimental and conceptual. There’s mystery; it makes you think. That’s what I’m aiming for in my music as well.”
'I Confess' features an absolutely beautiful choral-style vocal in the track's opening, as well as a more intimate mellow lead in the verses. The lyrics are incredibly poetic and cling to unusual production elements and an unexpected chord progression here and there. The chorus opens up with a glorious synth pad, offering a contrast to the verses. The final part of the song floats away upon this synth line, before fading out in a dreamlike manner.