A storybook feeling around personal sorrows

Half of pop-duo Io Echo, Ioanna Gika is letting her talent shine on her own in her debut solo album. From 2010 to 2017, Gika and partner Leopold Ross made Io Echo their main priority. From opening for Nine Inch Nails and Bloc Party to performing in the major festival circuit, Io Echo created true indie rock music. Experiencing grief and romantic destruction, Gika created Thalassa while in Greece. Thalassa, which translates to “Spirit of the Sea” in Greek, transforms Gika into a captivating story-teller. Though most of the stories Gika tells throughout Thalassa are not of the happiest nature, she reminds her audience that feeling something is better than nothing. Gika takes her ethnic roots and weaves them ever so carefully with her personal endeavors to create an ambitious track list.

The 10-track album opens on a cloud of feather-like vocals and guitar as “Roseate” begins. The song grows into a powerful, gothy track that resembles early Gika music. Heavy synths and drums lead the listener through a river of emotions as Thalassa begins. “Out Of Focus” is a stand out on the album with its techno beats and eery-light vocals that could almost resemble an early Evanescence. The shortest track on the album, the title track, is a melodic and harrowing journey down a rabbit hole of sorts. Backup harmonies accompanied by church like keys and piano lead the listener into the next chapter of the album. On a quieter note, “Swan” is an emotionally surreal song for many. With lyrics like, “I’m in love here, but I don’t belong,” the song is true for many aside from Gika herself. “New Geometry” is a track that doesn’t fit just one genre of music. What seems like four minutes of disillusions, Gika transitions from gothic rock to indie rock to opera like notes through each chorus. “No Matter What” manifests all the things Gika wants to find in her future self through a rhythmic drum and classic guitar.

The album ends on a lavish note with “Drifting.” The cascading chimes from the very start take the listener through the last part of Gika’s journey. The imagery of losing someone close is felt through every turn of the chorus, “Don’t go drifting too far from the shore/ if I lose you will I lose myself?” In whole, the piece sounds a bit more theatrical then past Gika music. Immersive and mythical with every turn of every track, Thalassa is a movement forward towards the distant future.