Berlin-based pianist, producer, and songwriter Marie Kruttli newly-released five-track EP Vif, is a sonic journey on which Kruttli explores introspective themes of love, life, nature, and time. A jazz-infused experimental dream pop project, ‘Vif’ is equal parts raw and profound as it is dreamy and poetic, with Kruttli’s vulnerability and honest expression consistently shining bright throughout.
Born in a small Swiss-French village, Saint-Imier, Marie Krüttli has played piano since she was six years old. Training herself first in classical music and then, later, in jazz; her entire life has always been immersed in music. Born into a family of musicians, Krutti specialised in jazz during both her Bachelors and Masters Degrees. Having lived in Germany, Switzerland, and New York, her music is inspired by a variety of sensibilities, composing diverse and eclectic projects throughout the years, from solo to septets.
Her now imaginative electronic musical sound stands distinctly amongst other musical contemporaries, like FKA Twigs, Björk, and Petter Eldh. Vif, is a marriage of her varied influences exploring introspective subjects on nature, time and her own struggles, using synthesizers to create an array of expressive, distorted, and spaced-out textures. Vif was recorded at Kruttli’s home studio in Berlin, with renowned Swedish jazz composer Petter Eldh on bass; Fabian Rösch, a frequent collaborator of Kruttli as part of their electronic duo Dragon Life, on drums, and mixed and mastered by Luka Aaron.
The EP’s title “Vif” means both vivid in French (in colour) and alert (as an attitude), staying true to the intense and visceral nature of this EP, and Kruttli’s personality. Speaking on naming the collection, she explains, “I am myself rather intense and I like to meet people on a deep level. I can be light as well but my temper is rather passionate and a little tormented.”