Дeva (Deva)

Mixing traditional Hungarian folk music with electronic tunes makes Дeva one of the most interesting musical projects in Hungary nowadays.

Some countries have longer history in mixing their folk music with electronic tunes. Ukraine is a really good example, where bands such as Onuka has been creating electro-folk music with big success for many years now. In Hungary at the same folk tunes were mostly dominant in some other genres, usually most radio-friendly, popular ones.

The musical project Дeva was created by the Dorina Takács in Budapest. In her bio, she explains the origins of the name, as an interesting word that has the original meaning ‘white’, but it is still being used for evil things in many cultures.

This combination of the polar opposites represents bringing light and darkness together. In the case of her music, it is also a perfect metaphor for mixing traditional Hungarian folk music with electronic tunes.

The trip-hop style goes surprisingly well with the folk singing. She mixes this unique type of voice production with more common way of pop singing. What makes these songs even more unique, that there is basically nothing from the traditional instruments (like flute, violin or ‘citera’) that can ‘back the vocals up’.

Putting the singing into this new musical environment reminds me of how timeless these melodies are, but at the same time also twists them so far, that they are almost unrecognisable. The down-tempo electronic bases also give a nice contrast to the usually rather emotional, sometimes even over the top folk music.

Дeva is definitely one of the most interesting musical projects in Hungary nowadays. It is undeniable Hungarian yet fits quite well to the international trends. I hope Dorina will inspire many more musicians to follow her footsteps!

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Дeva on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify.

Photo: molnardani

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