iamamiwhoami - Be Here Soon + "don't wait for me" (OUT NOW)

I'm waiting for the album to listen to this songs. I've read the reactions here and I honestly can't wait.

Has she said why this is being credited as iamamiwhoami? It's such a mess.

 

Probably sick of the cigs asking for another iam project so decide to credit this as iamamiwhoami. To me it feels more Ionnalee but I'm still enjoying it all.

 

Not really a mess. iamamiwhoami is a collaboration between Jonna and Claes, while almost all the solo ionnalee songs were self produced, with Claes doing co-production on just SAMARITAN and a few from the second album.

It’s definitely not that big of a difference since she’s still the main songwriter and voice and vision behind it all, but the criteria for separation is pretty clear.

 

This seems to be a pretty common opinion; whilst I've not exactly loved any of them so far, the last few have definitely been weaker than the first ones which I've grown to like (but not love). She seemed really excited about changes (and interestingly it already has more views than i tenacious), but this week's didn't have much fanfare at all, which I found odd. At this point I'm expecting more of the same for the final 4 tracks.

On the ionna/iam thing, whilst I get why this is iam thing, it just feels strange. I'd have understood if this were the ionna debut, but it feels very incoherent with iam's back catalogue for me. Which is fine, but I get why people are confused.

 

Flying or Falling is my second favourite after Canyon, I think it’s utterly beautiful. I’m so excited to listen to the album as a whole on vinyl - I think it’s going to make a lot more sense as a complete package. She seems very proud of this record and has clearly had a lot of fun making it.

 

Flying or Falling is the first one that did nothing for me upon first listen. Everything else grown on me over time, but this one still feels me leaving cold.

I think it will work in context of the album for me.

 

Only one I still don't really care for is I Tenacious. Even with the lyrics it's just very... OK, and?
The rest are all great additions, with the first two being up there with their very best. It would be best if everyone stopped expecting a "bop" anytime soon, I think Canyon and Changes are as close to that as we'll get this time around.

 

Or... zeven? That breakdown in the second half is amazing. I'm not expecting any bops at this stage BUT I'd have been delighted if it went a little more that way after zeven and that was the transition piece - even if it transitioned into something else later on.

I do think the album will make more sense to me personally as a whole, and I really hope it does, as most of their projects have - but I also think I'm going to find it overly samey, as beautiful as parts of it are.

 

That is definitely a highlight. I keep catching myself randomly thinking of

six seven nine
gotta roll the dice
i’m your girl i’m your girl
walking the line

 

Because Claes Björklund is involved. I thought this was obvious but I've seen many people confused. I'm honestly surprised to see people saying Be Here Soon sounds more like ionnalee, I could never envision Jonna producing something like this by herself... her two solo albums are the polar opposite of what they're releasing now.

 

I don't think people are saying it sound alike ionnalee at all - that's not it. I think what people are saying is that it would make more sense had this been the first release from ionnalee (instead of SAMARITAN/EATBF) because it feels jarring with the rest of iam, and sounds more like Jonna's solo stuff. It doesn't really sound like ionna or iam too much, but I think it'd be more understandable had it been ionnalee given how she framed the difference between the projects.

Also, the lyrics are much more direct and personal (which is how she framed the transition to ionnalee), as are the videos - particularly changes. Changes features footage of her as a child, which is similar in ways to summer never ended (single cover doss the same) so it feels more like ionnalee in that way too.

 

I hope she doesn’t feel too disheartened about the views. I mean, a video for “Here Is A Warning” would have had less views than “Gone” too, which doesn’t mean it’s a bad song.

I think it will turn out to be a beautiful album, but for totally different reasons than for example “bounty”. She can’t please everyone and I hope she doesn’t feel the need to either.

 

This is funny because I think that song is partially about the return of them working together as iam.

 

The short break after the first chorus in Flying or Falling is one of my favourite moments from their entire catalog. The way her vocals blend with the folky instrumental and create the soundscape takes me right back to the feelings their music gave me during to bounty era.

 

But ionnalee has never been really that removed from iamamiwhoami. In fact, that was pretty clear with all of their recent releases being tagged both ionnalee and iamamiwhoami or the fact that all of ionnalee's work has been part of iamamiwhoami's channel since the beginning. I think maybe the issue is that people see her solo career as a spin off rather than a continuation of the work that began in 2009. Be Here Soon isn't just a continuation of BLUE, but also of her solo work including summer never ended.

(It's also ironic hearing people say this new era is too much like ionnalee, when her first electronic solo record had songs that had been registered to iamamiwhoami for ages, and even full versions of the preludes and people still said it didn't feel like iamamiwhoami.)

 

Honestly “but it doesn’t sound like iamamiwhoami!!” like… great? dd. I get it might be a little jarring at first but when you remember “Remember The Future/Kronologi” and the way it was getting tired… just good they’re switching things up.

 

Aww! I love that she did that. Tying the art to this special moment in her life is what makes ionna/iam so special. I do wonder if they are fudging the truth a little on working on these releases in real time. I can't imagine being in the final stages of pregnancy and trying to work on this project.

 

I do think they’re putting the final touches on things now (like video editing), but I can’t imagine the album isn’t properly mastered yet or that she still has to shoot a few more videos.