Anniina is a new and exciting pop artist from Helsinki, Finland. Announcing herself onto the ever growing musical landscape, she has just released her stunning debut single 'Fire'. For fans of Adele and Sia, this is a heartbreaking and emotive piano pop ballad that pulls right at your heartstrings. Only 19-years old, it seems like Anniina is only just getting started. We sat down with her to learn all about her journey so far, the meaning behind 'Fire' and more, exclusively for FLEX.
You made a big move across the world before this release - how did that inspire “Fire”?
In so many ways! In Summer 2021 I had just graduated high school and was moving to the U.S. from Finland and a lot was happening. I was going through heartbreak and moving away from home to a different country at the same time. Around that time I wrote Fire with my friend Sasha and it became a story of what I was going through at that time. My life was changing but I was very stuck on this heartbreak that happened. I was moving abroad and my life totally went on but I felt like I wasn’t moving on with it.
There is definite influence from the big singer-songwriters like Adele in this track, yet your own innovative production is evident. What made you want to break the pop mould and lean into a more indie edge?
I’m definitely influenced by singer-songwriters like Adele but I really love indie pop and more indie style music overall so with the production I wanted to lean towards that. I wanted the production to be big and minimalistic at the same time if that makes sense.
Stream 'Fire' by Anniina below:
How has your experience at Berklee College of Music impacted the way you write music? Have you found that you feed off of the passion of your peers?
It’s been fun to meet other writers, and getting feedback and playing my songs to people has made me a better writer. I grew up writing songs alone at home and never really played them to anyone so it’s super cool that at Berklee there’s a whole community of people who do the same thing as I do. I also met the co-writer of Fire, Sasha, on one of my first days at Berklee. I had never co-written with anyone before so that was a new thing. I’ve definitely learned a lot and gotten inspiration from the people around me.
You’ve been recognised internationally for your songwriting talent. When did you know this was something you wanted to pursue professionally?
A few days after I turned 14 I realised that I want to be an artist and just kind of decided that that’s what I’m going to do. That’s when I started writing songs everyday too. I had been playing the piano and singing since I was very little but hadn’t thought about it more deeply before that, it was just something that I was always doing. I used to play badminton competitively but quit at 16 to focus on music. I think a lot has changed in my life over the years, obviously, but music is the one thing that always stuck. And to me writing songs is just the most fun thing to do.
We’d love to hear this track live! Can we expect any releases of performances in the future?
I’m working on filming a live version so yes!