foto: Adriána Vančová
“With a signature otherworldly voice that ranges from frenzied to delicate and a sound that stretches the boundaries of pop music, Ai fen is a unique presence on the contemporary European music scene.” – The Calvert Journal
Ai fen - Die So Much (ft. Ema Brabcová, Adriána Morn, Kateřina Mala, Andrea Rottin)
| past shows | |
|---|---|
| 16.04.26 | Winternitzova vila → |
| 15.04.26 | Berlínskej Model → |
Ai fen
experimental pop
Ai fen is the monikor of Prague-based artist, musician, composer and producer Ewelina Vlček-Chiu. Her two first albums, postforever (2020) and Daily Grief (2022 out on Tender Matter) were characterized by vocal experimentation, varying from operatic to screamo, across a background of post-club electronics spattered with keys and soprano flute melodies in tracks that remain ultimately unashamedly song-centric. The project continues to unravel the artist’s self, featuring tracks with a penchant for melody and a knack for deconstruction, building to break down, breaking down to reveal.
Later in 2025 Ai fen’s third studio album ‘I’ve Been a Body’ was released on the Rome based label White Forest following a three year hiatus. Moving away from elaborate electronic production and into sprawling piano based compositions that degrade and sprawl into vast landscapes of drone and screamo, ‘I’ve Been a Body’ examines a decision that every biologically born woman, whether she likes it or not, is faced with: to be(come) or not be(come) a mother? Out of the vast array of sociopolitical pressures put on women’s bodies, motherhood is perhaps the pinnacle, with maternity being inextricably historically linked to a woman’s identity as such, tied up with her feelings of self-worth and purpose. Choosing to be(come) a mother is a privilege and choosing not to is a right.
‘I’ve Been a Body’ is a manifesto of our physicality utilizing motherhood as a lens through which to examine a transcendence arising from the body’s ephemerality. Motherhood need not necessarily be experienced as the becoming of, but rather as a concept to delve into our tender corporeality. We all have mothers, we are all born through a body that is Other. Moving effortlessly from flute to piano, folk songs and traditional Chinese instruments, the album explores the artist’s identity with the added layer of motherhood. The grand piano is deeply present throughout the album flanked by layers of spiraling effects, recorded live. Ai fen’s voice takes the foreground in raw form, at times transforming into auto-tune or joined by vocalists such as Kateřina Mala, Andrea Rottin, Ema Brabcová and Adriána Morn. Devoid of electronic beats, ‘I’ve Been a Body’ turns to sparse acoustic percussion improvised by Kateřina Mala and Andrea Rottin of Oswaldowi.
Later in 2025 Ai fen’s third studio album ‘I’ve Been a Body’ was released on the Rome based label White Forest following a three year hiatus. Moving away from elaborate electronic production and into sprawling piano based compositions that degrade and sprawl into vast landscapes of drone and screamo, ‘I’ve Been a Body’ examines a decision that every biologically born woman, whether she likes it or not, is faced with: to be(come) or not be(come) a mother? Out of the vast array of sociopolitical pressures put on women’s bodies, motherhood is perhaps the pinnacle, with maternity being inextricably historically linked to a woman’s identity as such, tied up with her feelings of self-worth and purpose. Choosing to be(come) a mother is a privilege and choosing not to is a right.
‘I’ve Been a Body’ is a manifesto of our physicality utilizing motherhood as a lens through which to examine a transcendence arising from the body’s ephemerality. Motherhood need not necessarily be experienced as the becoming of, but rather as a concept to delve into our tender corporeality. We all have mothers, we are all born through a body that is Other. Moving effortlessly from flute to piano, folk songs and traditional Chinese instruments, the album explores the artist’s identity with the added layer of motherhood. The grand piano is deeply present throughout the album flanked by layers of spiraling effects, recorded live. Ai fen’s voice takes the foreground in raw form, at times transforming into auto-tune or joined by vocalists such as Kateřina Mala, Andrea Rottin, Ema Brabcová and Adriána Morn. Devoid of electronic beats, ‘I’ve Been a Body’ turns to sparse acoustic percussion improvised by Kateřina Mala and Andrea Rottin of Oswaldowi.