Totemo - Everything Happens Only Once (2019) [Hi-Res]

Her real name is Rotem Or, but professionally she is known as Totemo. She is a native of Tel Aviv and is signed under “I Am You Music Group,” a German based management company. While performing, Totemo plays the electric guitar and keyboard. Apart from Israel, she has toured Israel and many other countries like Poland, Germany, South Korea, Uganda and Austria. She was just 18, when she released her first EP titled “Lightly Easily.” The album had seven songs and was released by Under The Basement, a Jerusalem based label, and a sub label of the Jerusalem label Fact Records.

Life took an unprecedented gory turn when Totemo got diagnosed with cancer. Her life had turned upside down, but she resolved to overcome breast cancer and resurrect her home, life and music career. Soon, things started looking up for the musician and she was back in the midst of things. After the critically acclaimed EP’s “Heavy as My Dreams” and “Desire Path”, “Everything Happens Only Once” is Totemo’s third collaboration with music producer Roey Avital. Together, Totemo and Avital create personal songs which are not restricted, but are expansive and seductively charming. In an interview to a web based magazine Totemo spoke about her myriad influences, trip-hop’s hypnotic effect as a genre and the inspiration derives living in Tel Aviv.

She finds the city amazing and says that it can be like a village and a city at the same time. It’s just a matter of perspective. Totemo said that you may find yourself feeling completely at home or you could immerse in its alienation. She feels the best thing about Tel-Aviv is its emerging music scene. She feels there is so much going on every night, it’s a sense of constant activity and she loves it.

About her songwriting process, Totemo said that it’s not constant and keeps changing. She admits to always having a stock of lyrics, but at times may feel the music more powerfully and start singing some gibberish as holder before everything begins to integrate into one whole piece.

“Everything Happens Only Once” is a journey with stark contrasts, it where the chalk and the cheese juxtapose. Stylish inventive pop is mixed with untreated and exposed lyrics. Gentle organic sounds and vocals intertwine with smooth electronic precision. Influences of East Asia amalgamate with wistful synths, creating futuristic music that sound familiar at the same time.