Olga Bell: “Perm Krai”
Krai (край) is the Russian word for edge, limit, frontier or hinterland. Present-day Russia is divided into a myriad of ‘federal subjects’, including nine krais. In this capacity the term is a political designation, like ‘territory’, but for the earliest Russians these places represented both the promise and terror of the vast unknown.
With nine songs, presumably one for each region, Bell’s record sounds a little bit like Sufjan Stevens’ (abandoned?) 50 States project, except with a Russian twist (and hopefully Ukraine isn’t considered one of these Russian territories). You can stream the first idiosyncratic single from Krai below, and check out the rest of the album when it becomes available on April 29th via New Amsterdam Records.
— Jon

