Cyvella Lays it All on the Line with Her “RICH” Music Video [Premiere]

Truly at the top of her game, Marlain Angelides’ brand new project, Cyvella, is like a menagerie of musical forces. With Cyvella, Angelides has reached her crescendo, a culmination of all of the thoughts, passions, and desires she has had simmering within her now for years. Today, we are helping to debut her stirring new music video for “RICH,” the title track off of her brand new EP, due for release on May 28th.

Former lead singer of the hugely popular Greek pop band Hi-5, and representative of Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest, Cyvella is a whole new creation of Angelides’, a project conceived over the last year while she, and everyone else, have been homebound by the pandemic. Electronic in nature, Angelides brings a truthful, raw approach to Cyvella, topped off with a certain cinematic quality that makes the music feel substantial, which brings to mind other experimental, downtempo artists such as Portishead.

Explaining her interpretation of the song, Angelides said, “What does it mean to be RICH? Blending seedy jazz-lounge piano with a stark and heavy electronic tour-de-force, along with sensual dynamic vocals, ‘RICH’ almost basks in its debauched decadence. The song explores desire from different angles, seductively, and in a confrontational tone. It taunts with what you daren’t admit you might want from life.”

The cinematic approach to Rich is apparent in the storytelling nature of the EP. It’s a grouping of songs built around double entendres that at times reflect the complexity of modern womanhood and what it means to be female in this day and age. Dominance is paired with submissiveness, while pain and sorrow are wedded with absurdity and a hopeful sense of humour. Many of the songs don’t have straightforward interpretations; they’re meant to be layered, uncertain, and even contradictory. Producer David Lawrie lent a big hand when it came to the cinematic nature of the EP, thanks to his work as a sound designer and composer for many different films.

Rich is a dense piece of music, but with a certain accessibility that will keep you coming back for more.

Artwork for “RICH” by Cyvella