Aga Ujma

Aga Ujma is a Polish experimental folk multi-instrumentalist based in London. Her sound follows the contemporary folk cannon of Bjork, Múm, Eivør, CocoRosie and Current 93, blending traditional folk with minimal avant-garde production methods and Eastern instrumentation. Her glacial vocals, underpinned by the delicate plucking of an Indonesian sasando and golden passages of gender barung, make her EP a beautiful homage to two very different places that are close to her heart. Aga credits the experimental aspect of her music to Indonesia where she studied Gamelan for many years, which manifests itself through playful song structures and surprisingly placed glissandos. What stuck with Aga most about Indonesian musicians was their willingness to reinvent traditional music and do ‘crazy’ things with it. This kind of modernity, she says, is not possible with traditional Polish folk music. In Poland, folk music has such a revered status that to play around with it too much is considered offensive. This experimental approach to traditional folk, blending cultures together in a delicate arrangement makes Aga’s music a one of a kind insight into the childlike curiosity of musical exploration.