Arima Ederra - An Orange Colored Day (2023) [Hi-Res]

The firstborn daughter of Ethiopian refugees, music and songwriting were inherently part of Arima's upbringing as she discovered the power of mezmur, Ethiopian spiritual music, in the back of an Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Las Vegas where she was raised. That belief in the healing power of songs and stories flows through her own music, which she took with her as she found a home amongst like-minded peers and friends in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. In 2016, she released her celestial 2016 EP Temporary Fixes, which The FADER called "a tranquil offering laced with pleasant vocals and jazzy melodies inspired by love, attraction, and loss." In LA, she found herself a home and community amongst like-minded peers, and toured with Noname around her critically-acclaimed debut album Telefone.

In the time since, Arima's been honing her craft as an artist, working alongside the likes of Jon Bap and Teo Halm, and living through the spectrum of experiences that inform her forthcoming full-length project, An Orange Colored Day.

Waking up feels good. You should stretch when you wake—your voice, your hands, your knees. If it's early, it's just you and the trees and the songs will come visit you. The melody might come dressed like lightning bugs. It might swing down from the crest of a hill and brush over you like wind. When it does come, be ready to grab it fast.

"The album quickly transitions into a picture of hope and resilience in “Steel Wing”, a track with an upbeat drum sound which then beautifully switches to a reggae rhythm. The song is seemingly an ode to her father (a constant figure in the album and by extension the artist’s life) amidst his status as a refugee and coalesces with her own journey to adulthood and self-discovery. “Steel Wing” is not just a song of determination and strength against the harsh realities of the world but also the adoption of personhood through the experiences of our parents, and in this case, the safeguarding of Ederra’s freedom vis-a-vis the “crooked man’s stealing of all their gold.” (orpheusreview.com)