Barbora Xu

"A work of luminous artistry"
Charlie Cawood, Songlines ★ ★ ★ ★

"It's a delicious shapeshifting, a product of Xu's glorious imagination and talent. It's quietly daring and provocative, a very satisfying joy."
Chris Nickson, Rootsworld

Czech singer and multi-instrumentalist Barbora Xu explores the shared symbolism of Finnish and Chinese poetry, setting ancient texts to newly composed songs and arrangements. Xu’s debut album Olin ennen (10/2021) is a culmination of a decade of music writing and field research, acclaimed by international music community placing n.11 in the WMCE and n.21 in TWMC, picked for the German Record Critics’ Award, the Podwireless Best Of 2021 while sweeping through the radios worldwide.

Despite their geographic disparity, both Finnish and Chinese traditions share a deep connection to the natural world. Imagery of birds and water, earth and sky permeate Xu’s music, evoking universal concepts such as time and impermanence through the use of metaphor. The shimmering, transcendental strains of Chinese guzheng and Finnish kantele, paired with Xu’s feather-light, yet powerful vocals, conjure a sense of stillness, of luminous possibility. Barbora’s playing fuses Finnish and Chinese traditional techniques with minimalism, binding bell-like overtone harmonics with cascading arpeggios and pitch-bends.