Pleasure & Pain from Pleasure & Pain by Andrina Bollinger
Andrina Bollinger returns with an EP titled “Pleasure & Pain”: part artistic manifesto, part treasure map.
This tight 5-song package kicks off with the infectious, mildly psychedelic title track, where she lays out her artistic agenda: “We go fishing for pleasure and pain, in our mind oceans we are throwing our lines... collecting the good and bad.” To remain vulnerable and porous. To accept life in its totality, even when things get uncomfortable or when it hurts! Song after song, we get to feast on a cornucopia of emotion and beauty borne of this philosophy put to work. Some of this material was written for her debut album “Secret Seed”, but it needed some more time to mature.
The mounting tsunami of “Eye of a Storm” addresses indifference to the world, confronting the realization that, in the end, “the storm” won't spare anybody. The melancholic stomp of “Denial” examines privilege and transmutes corrosive guilt into righteous anger: the most powerful medicine against complacency. The silky acoustic guitar-driven ballad “Morning Gleam” amplifies a melange of sensations experienced by a pair of entangled lovers. On the closing tune, the wild percussive flurry of “No One”, courage to break rank and stand up to injustice, regardless of what's at stake, is commended. The truth is, every movement starts with somebody taking that first step.
Musically, “Pleasure & Pain” is both an assertion of freedom and a proclamation of love. A love for the endless possibilities of music: the visceral lo-fi aesthetics as well as rich, meticulous arrangements; the analog, the handmade, but also the synthetic; the cerebral and that which is centered in the body. Psychedelic, rock-inflected, tribal, folky, cinematic, jazz-infused – if you are free, you get to cut your own recipe.
The guitars, piano, synths, and most of the percussion were played by Andrina herself. Jules Martinet played bass (also flugelhorn on “Morning Gleam”), Arthur Hnatek played drums, and Julian Sartorius played percussion (on “No One” and “Denial”).
Tracklist
| 1. | Pleasure & Pain | 3:31 |
Lyrics
Mmh aah, mmh aah
Mmh aah, mmh
It chews and grinds
Peaks and winds
Motivates, keeps us alive
A fool bolts fun
But what is it, what is it, mmh?
If pain’s the same
Then what feels good?
One shows up, the other one not
A fool bolts fun
But what is it, what is it, mmh?
Rejecting it is easy
‘Cause, ‘cause I’m not easy to please
My claims are high, mmh
A key thing, sure
Can’t tell it quite
Surprising, sure
Can feel it right
It’s doing what you can’t do
This is it, this is it!
We go (What is it)
Fishing (What is it, what)
For pleasure and pain (What, what)
In our (What is it)
Mindoceans (What is it, what)
We’re throwing our lines (What, what)
We go (What is it)
Collecting (What is it, what)
The good and bad (What, what)
In our (What is it)
Mindoceans (What is it, what)
We’re taking our lanes
Mmh aah, mmh aah
Mmh aah, mmh
It chews and grinds
Peaks and winds
Motivates, keeps us alive
A fool bolts fun
But what is it, what is it, mmh?
If pain’s the same
Then what feels good?
One shows up, the other one not
A fool bolts fun
But what is it, what is it, mmh?
Rejecting it is easy
‘Cause, ‘cause I’m not easy to please
My claims are high, mmh
A key thing, sure
Can’t tell it quite
Surprising, sure
Can feel it right
It’s doing what you can’t do
This is it, this is it, this is it, this is it, this is it!
We go (What is it)
Fishing (What is it, what)
For pleasure and pain (What, what)
In our (What is it)
Mindoceans (What is it, what)
We’re throwing our lines (What, what)
We go (What is it)
Collecting (What is it, what)
The good and bad (What, what)
In our (What is it)
Mindoceans (What is it, what)
We’re taking our lanes
Mmh aah, mmh
Mmh aah, mmh
Mmh aah, mmh
Mmh ooh, yeah
Credits
License
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Swiss artist Andrina Bollinger crafts genre-defying music where avant-pop, jazz, poetry, and performance art merge into a multisensory maze. Inspired by her Engadin roots and artists like Björk, she creates emotionally textured soundscapes. After the LP “Secret Seed” and EP “Pleasure & Pain,” her second album “Island of Way Back” is set for release in spring 2026.