Yannis Fyssas – “Gia Mia Lexi” / “Anthropino Krama”

Yannis Fyssas – “Gia Mia Lexi” / “Anthropino Krama” – Singles Review

As a person that has not only listened to music but purposely sought out all kinds of different sounds from all around the globe, I’ve always got my ears open.  I always want to hear what’s happening in other regions in the world other than my own.  Don’t get me wrong, we make some fantastic music here in Canada, but it’s absolutely enriching to the soul to discover the sounds of other cultures outside of our borders.  Case in-point, I don’t have the faintest clue what ‘Modern Greek Folk’ would typically sound like – which is the kind of music that artist Yannis Fyssas is currently making.  In a real ironic twist to this story though, from what I can tell from the information I was able to track down online, it actually looks like Yannis has brought the Modern Greek Folk sound right into the Canadian realm, and is currently based out of Vancouver, BC.  Or at the very least, that’s where Bandcamp is telling me he’s based out of, which is where he released his most current album called Xenitemena Tragoudia as well.  So there you have it – culture from miles and miles away, brought right to our backyard here in Canada – which is great!  Vancouver has long established itself as a melting pot of unique cultural design, so I’d imagine that the music of Fyssas has been a great fit for the city, and who knows, maybe I’ll see him live one day considering he’s so close to where I’m living in the valley!  I’ve enjoyed the experience of listening to both these two singles from Xenitemena Tragoudia.

While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that something like “Gia Mia Lexi” would be the kind of song you’d typically find on my playlists, like I said, I appreciate the opportunity to experience something different in music than what I normally gravitate to – I firmly believe this is how we all enrich our palettes and it’s also key to opening our hearts and minds to what other cultures bring to the planet we share together.  “Gia Mia Lexi” translates loosely to “Ode To A Word” in English, and you’ll find that Yannis based this song on poems that were written by Dimitris Fyssas.  You’ll likely notice the similar last names, and like me, assume that they’re likely related…based on what I’ve learned behind the scenes, Dimitris, the Grecian author, is actually Yannis’ cousin, who has established his own name in the artistic realm as a writer.  Obviously, that’s cool – that’s quite the remarkable tribute and way to honor the creativity taking place throughout a family lineage – clearly that creative traits have been passed down all throughout the family line, all the way to Yannis in his music today.  The dude sings great if you ask me – I hear a whole lot of professionalism and natural talent combined in a song like “Gia Mia Lexi.”  Admittedly, I’d probably say that it’s the lyricism that might even be the most impressive element to me – it seems like it’s somewhat allegorical in the sense that it’s about finding the perfect word to “mend all my poems” – but is essentially referencing that missing piece of the puzzle in any of our lives.  We’ve all got at least one, am I right?  So believe me when I tell ya, despite being sung in a different language than many of us speak, you’ll probably find the core themes of “Gia Mia Lexi” a whole lot more relatable than you’d likely assume at first.  The musicianship is stunning & filled with exquisite character, beautiful instrumentation, and copious amounts of traditional, cultural sound.  Combined with the bold notes and confident way that Yannis sings and the tangible emotion you’ll discover in an expressive song like this; you’ll hear the crossover potential that exists in the captivating composition of “Gia Mia Lexi.”

A track like “Anthropino Krama” was pretty much equally appealing to me personally, and it’s also based upon poetry too as far as I’ve read, in addition to a bunch of print & radio interviews – which is unique!  “Anthropino Krama” ends up having a ton of depth to it, which is something you’d likely assume given where the inspirations are coming from – art inspires art, just like we like to say around these pages of ours.  Look at this verse though…you gotta admire poetic brilliance like this:  “We are but a human alloy of contradictions/Amidst the haze that shrouds our daily view/We are only human, full of certitude and chaos/A mix of beauty and rust, old and new.”  That as incredibly well-written as it is genuinely insightful – I LOVE reading something like that and hearing it through the expressive vocals of a singer like Yannis – there’s no question whatsoever that you’re listening to audible ART when you hear a song like “Anthropino Krama.”  Perhaps no more potently put than the final line of “the state of affairs is still getting under my skin” – you can appreciate how much depth and detail there is in the wisdom behind the words, and how accurately this depicts the state of oppression that Greece has been subject to in its long and storied history.  Indeed, to listen to a track like “Anthropino Krama” is to receive a verifiable lesson in history if you’re paying close attention to the words and understanding what’s being said.  A track like “Anthropino Krama” obviously isn’t going to be the happiest song you’re going to hear this year, but it’s filled with the kind of substance that genuinely matters – real details that you know come from life experience, history, and the lessons that have been learned from it all combined into this song.  Yannis continues to display a high level of professionalism…he’s got an exceptional voice, and singing in Greek is no joke y’all…it’s a language that has tremendous technique and character to it.  Obviously he’s got a bit of an advantage in the sense that it comes naturally to him, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive to listen to when he hits all the bending of syllables and major inflection points so flawlessly.  I enjoy songs like “Anthropino Krama” that much more for how they not only sound great, but for the fact that they teach us something as well – I think that’s extremely cool.  And I get it…I don’t expect that we’re always looking to learn something through music each and every day, but for a mental excursion, every once in a while, a track like “Anthropino Krama” goes a long way in taking you out of your world and into a whole other time where things in the world were tremendously different than they are now.

Definitely a pleasure to experience the audible art that Yannis Fyssas is creating through his music and get my dose of culture through his Modern Greek Folk songs…I’ll have to track him down in Vancouver sometime in the future and see if I can hear some more one day.

Find out more about Yannis Fyssas from this multi-link right here:  https://li.sten.to/yfyssas

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