Sirens Of Lesbos

Sirens Of Lesbos

Sirens Of Lesbos are a group from Bern. The act centres on David Friedli, and its earlier line-up includes sisters Jasmina and Nabyla Serag, Melvyn Buss and Arci Friede. The name references Greece, which also becomes a recurring point of interest in the group’s story and output.

Style and development

The group first sets out with the aim of making an Ibiza track, and early attention comes through pitched-down vocals on Long Days, Hot Nights. That release leads to a run of BBC Radio 1-supported songs for Exploited and Armada, with the group reaching more than 20 million listens. Their work sits across electronic music, including house, deep house and experimental elements, with an emphasis on club production in the earlier period.

After an unsatisfactory performance in Athens in 2015, the group reassesses its direction. A later release, We’ll Be Fine, marks a change of approach, moving away from club-focused production towards warmer, more organic arrangements. It uses reggae guitar lines, Eastern flute sounds and lyrics about ending a relationship and starting again. The song is presented from the perspective of one of the group’s former partners.

Influences and background

Sirens Of Lesbos draw on classic analogue pop and soul from the 1960s and 1970s, including the Moody Blues and Rotary Connection, while also reflecting more contemporary influences associated with artists such as Drake and Solange. Their music also brings in the members’ different backgrounds. The Serag sisters are both born in Switzerland to Sudanese and Eritrean parents who arrive as political refugees and freedom fighters. Arci Friede is also born in Switzerland, to Czech parents who leave after the 1968 Prague Spring. Melvyn Buss has an English father and works as a hip-hop DJ from the age of 15.

Associated projects and collaborations

Arci Friede is one of the co-owners of Bern’s Club Bonsoir, which hosts acts including Hudson Mohawke, DJ Premier, Derrick May and Todd Terje. Melvyn Buss works on a range of projects, including collaboration with Robert Owens and music for a Karl Lagerfeld film. Jasmina Serag also works under the name NewRa, which becomes the only Swiss act selected for Red Bull Music Academy 2018. The group’s edit of a Saho tribe song is taken up by Alma Negra, who are described as a Gilles Peterson favourite.

Selected releases

Among the group’s named tracks are Long Days, Hot Nights, We’ll Be Fine, Post-Soviet Funk and Funky Lips of Timbuktu. The last two are released on Exploited and show the group moving towards nu-disco and tribal house-influenced forms while bringing its various musical influences into the foreground.