We love it when Eurovision alums get together to collaborate on a track — especially when there are two decades between their ESC appearances! And now Eurovision 2019 stars Tulia — they of the stunning red dresses and those harmonies — are bringing the fire alongside Poland’s 1996 Eurovision entrant Kasia Kowalska. As any devoted Polish fan will know, she sang “Chcę znać swój grzech…” finishing in 15th place. Since the contest Kasia has won a string of accolades including “Best Polish Artist” at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Together Tulia and Kasia are enjoying the grass in their new song “Trawnik” (Lawn).
An explosion of Eastern European flavour hits you from the moment you hit play. There’s a catchy, almost southern Slavic beat with a hint of Klezmer. Tulia take on the verses with their traditional white voice sound and Kasia comes in with the chorus over a drum beat. She brings a cool, rock-ish, alto sound that complements Tulia’s high vocals perfectly.
The ladies may be mixing with another singer, but they have certainly not lost any of their traditional folk vibes in the process. The song is full of symbolism and the blend of poetry and nature is once again present in their lyrics.
Srogi i siarczysty mróz
Mech zapuścił w głąb korzenie
I jabłonią w ziemię wrósł
Severe and heavy frost
Moss took root deeply
And an apple grew into the ground
So much symbolism, but what is “Trawnik” really all about? We caught up with lead singer Tulia and asked her to unpack it all.
“‘Trawnik’ is simply a kind of a modern love-story,” she said. “The idea is based on a typical arrangement of lyrics and melodies in Slavic, traditional ethnic love songs which women used to sing together. It’s meant to be full of symbolism like our ‘Trawnik’ is. Symbols related with elements and nature such as: thunderclap, summer rain, orchard, apple tree, lawn are the beautiful frame for this story.”
“And the story is about the heart and philosophical dilemmas of a girl, who doesn’t love a boy who’s striving for her feelings. She is kind of a witchy, dark character that is playing with his emotions. She wants to dominate this boy and even at the end doesn’t want to admit that she’s also sensitive deep down in her heart. Maybe she was hurt in the past?
“The verses are sung by the narrator of the history and the chorus is singing about the main character — a girl. ‘Trawnik’s’ translation is ‘lawn’ which is green, and green is a colour of hope.”
If you follow Tulia on Insta, you’ve likely seen their stunning pics from China. But the song’s release isn’t related to their far-flung adventure.
“It’s not connected with our trip to China,” they tell us. “It was released during this time as a final single from our debut. The long journey to Asia and comeback to our home might be the symbol of our debut that gave us tones of strong feelings and experiences that most artists are fighting for for a long time and now we come back to focus on the second album that usually defines the career. The sound and musical character of ‘Trawnik’ is strongly connected to our roots and our taste and we want to still continue to be honest with our performances.”
Joanna Leaves Tulia
The fierce foursome is now a tantalising threesome. As you’ll have seen on Instagram, Joanna is no longer present in the group. Tulia confirmed to us that they’ve parted ways: “For personal and health reasons, the fourth girl is not present in the band.”
Here is an official message from Tulia’s Facebook page.
“1 August 2019, Joanna left the team for personal and health reasons. As agreed with Joanna, we do not comment on this situation for the sake of personal and private nature. Thank you Joanna for this time and we wish her good luck. Please respect this decision.”
Joanna recently posted on her Instagram that she has started her studies at the Music Academy in Szczecin. We wish Joanna and Tulia the best of luck for their journey’s ahead.
What do you think of Tulia’s new track? And are you excited about their second album? Tell us in the comments section below.
I am happy for Tulia! Wonderful cultural representation!
They took the photo in China from the wrong side…
lmao
More information about Tulia: Apparently Joanna’s illness is quite severe, as she stated two times on her Instagram account. She doesn’t plan to rejoin the group as she wants to focus on her health. As for “Trawnik”, it’s an older song that comes from the deluxe version of their debut album (just like “Pali sie”). For some time it was even rumoured to be an entry for ESC 2019 and many Polish fans think it could potentially place better than “Fire Of Love”. Tulia met Kasia at the 2018 edition of Opole Festival and they already performed together at Sopot… Read more »
Hope she gets well soon.