Ever since Estère spoke to her grandmother about Carl Jung and his concept of archetypes, the Wellington-based producer knew the direction her next album would take. Fascinated, Estère dedicated herself to creating a record based on Jungian theory, devouring five books and filling six notebooks with ideas, brainstorms and eventually the material that appears on her third masterful record, the concept-album Archetypes.
Estère’s Jungian obsession dominated her sleep, creating bizarre dreamtime scenarios featuring encounters with cheetahs in a garden or sea creatures in a flood, while others revolved around delivering life into the universe and the massive task of guardianship over these beings - the instinctive selflessness of motherhood. Other dreams depicted violence and killing of the other; in some, Estère saw herself as a boy or a man. The imagery and meaning in these dreams have been incorporated into the archetypes that are featured on the album.
Archetypes is a departure from the bedroom beats of Estère’s previous two albums. Co-produced with Massive Attack producer, Stew Jackson, each track on the album comes alive through the Wellington-based artist’s deft production. Defying categoristion, her music is a mixture of folk, R&B and electronica, blended in a unique fashion, easily identified as ‘Estère’. Archetypes is the sound of an artist who entirely commits to creative instinct.
Album opener ‘Into the Belly of Capricorn’ sets the scene, inviting the listener to close their eyes and be absorbed into Estère’s enchanted narrative. The track is based around the archetype of youth, where Estère meets her own inner child as a separate mythical entity, reminding her of the freedom she felt in early life. Written in the filtered light of the nikau forest on Waiheke Island, where Estère was born, the song captures the essence of those surroundings. “The forest is primeval - when you enter it, your sense of self, time and space are lost and you become absorbed inside its majesty,” explains Estère.
Lead single ‘Calculated Risk’ is based around the archetype of suppressing desire. Estère says, "There are age-old myths and archetypes about how women taking risks and being curious about things can literally ruin the world. Calculated Risk explores how I can be freed from the chains of judgement and failure, opening- up about my feelings, deep desires, and dreams”.
Second single ‘Mad About Your Sea’ depicts the addiction archetype, in this case, the idea of feeling addicted to a person, wanting to ‘save’ them, despite them hurting you. ‘Animal Pleasure’ tackles the archetype of female sexuality, exploring Estère’s journey towards recognising her own sexual instinct as a woman and acting upon it without fear or shame. “Mish-mashing folkloric storytelling styles with more personal dialogues enabled me to really dig my teeth into each archetypal theme I wanted to explore”.
Breathing life into narratives that marry the acutely human to the achingly mythic, Estère’s highly-anticipated third album brims with imagery and sonic amalgamations that merge culture, language and legend. ‘Archetypes’ is set to be released on 22 January 2021 on Blue Riot Records and is available to pre-order now.