June 23rd, 20226/23/2022  By Anisah Alyahya It was the midst of the global pandemic, and I was sitting on a packed plane, crossing the Atlantic ocean. I had just left London, where a new variant had just been announced. The plane literally took off as border crossings began to be tightened, doors were closing just behind me, and the world prepared for another wave of coronavirus infections. In order to get on that final plane, I had to cross various borders by car, train, and plane. When I first left, 36 hours before that, I had no idea if I would ever be able to reach my destination in Mexico. But the story that was being born was bigger than my fears, and I surrendered myself to fate, with only my intuition to guide me. High up in the sky, I left all troubles below me. The world was in a panic, and here I was, completely disconnected from it among the clouds, no longer with any connection to the outside world. All I had was a pen and paper, and I began to reflect on my life. I was at a stage in my life where a precipice loomed ahead of me, and I just ran towards it and jumped off. I had no idea if I would fly or fall, but I trusted every instinct within me that life would take care of itself and that I had made the right call. And so words began to appear on the paper. It was a poem about reuniting with my counterpart, whom I had never before met in person. That someone who seemed so familiar and so near but yet so far, living a life completely different from the one I know. We were separated by the pandemic and mutual travel bans, and this was our only chance to meet in person in a country that was still open, yet so new and far away. I could see the solstice sun out the window, above the clouds. I never led a conventional life, instead taking risks and making non-obvious choices since I was a child. Yet, this was, by far, the strangest thing I had ever done and one that required the biggest courage, in a world that was growing more fearful by the hour. Nothing about that moment was normal. From that point onwards everything seemed like a waking dream. I walked off the plane and we celebrated what felt like a reunion rather than a first meeting. The synergy that was already felt between us across the miles was magnified. Prior to our physical meeting, we had already written two songs together, shared, and recorded remotely. It was clear to both of us that we wanted to share a new life and create music and art together. So when I touched down, I handed over the words to Andrew and soon enough he conjured up a tune that was both melancholic and hopeful. I remember hearing the chords for the first time and felt a deep resonance with its melody. The owner of the place we stayed at heard us working out the song and asked if he and a friend could hear the early version. We agreed and played the first acoustic version live to them. As we finished, we looked up and saw the tears welling in their eyes. The song moved them deeply. We knew then that we had created something universal that transcended our own story. With our first impromptu live performance, Venusia was truly born. We went for a walk by the beach for a swim, and out of nowhere, from a café close by, we heard a segment of an electronic dance song that contained the exact same chords as the chorus of our unfinished song. Neither of us had a cellphone to record the beat, but we looked at each other in surprise and knew that this song would evolve dramatically from its current version. I had always loved melodic electronic music and this happy coincidence propelled us to go beyond what we initially envisioned for the song. Solstice Love came into existence on the Winter Solstice, during the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn which happened on December 21st, 2020. The last time Jupiter and Saturn came this close together in the sky appearing as one bright star was 800 years ago. Since then, our life has been filled with more miracles. My singing voice, which I lost mysteriously with no medical explanation over the last decade returned virtually overnight. We’ve made Basel, Switzerland our home and together we have co-created eleven songs that are at various levels of production that will be part of our first album, Light Waves. We have also released another song that is now on Spotify called Waking Dream, which describes the ecstasy of waking up and realizing that life is like a dream. We waited to complete Solstice Love, which has a special significance to us until we felt the moment was perfect for it to be released, shared, and heard. To us, Venusia is more than just a band, which is why we also call the larger vision The Venusia Project. The name Venusia came when I was observing the night sky and saw an object, unlike anything I had seen before which reminded me of the planet Venus, except it wasn’t. Venusia, therefore, intends to unite the mysterious with the obvious, and as we like to say, alchemize the shades, moods, and emotions within us. Our synergy is catalyzed by our search to answer the deeper questions about our place in space, time and the Universe. We have only started on this journey and much more will come that will be revealed at the right time and place. The biggest miracle of all however is linked to the day Solstice Love is released into the world: the Summer Solstice. In the northern hemisphere, the Earth’s tilt is closest to the sun on the 21st of June, which results in the longest day of the year. For many ancient cultures, the Solstice heralds a magical day where the veil between worlds is thinnest. We, therefore, chose to release our song on this special day, a day that we will always revel in, for this is also the day of our marriage in this life. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — - Solstice Love can be heard on all streaming services: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/venusia/solstice-love If you resonate with what you hear, please follow us on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, and Apple Music or support us on Bandcamp, an intimate site connecting artists to their audience. We really appreciate it!
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