Following the release of her international debut, the self-produced, synth pop-oriented The Break, in 2020, Σtella -- Athens, Greece-based visual artist and musician Stella Chronopoulou -- signed with none other than Seattle indie Sub Pop. Her debut for the label, 2022's Up and Away, reflects a marked shift in sound partly conceived by producer Tom Calvert, aka Redinho. The pair started working together after the London-based producer (Swet Shop Boys, Riz MC) caught one of Stella's shows on a visit to Athens. With the concept in mind of an album from the '60s or '70s picked out of a box of old records in Athens, they combine traditional Greek folk, vintage pop, and touches of dreamy indie pop on the resulting 30-minute outing. All of these inspirations are combined on danceable opener "Up and Away," one of five tracks here to feature bouzouki (by Christos Skondras). The song's airy vocals and seductive lyrics capture the launching point of a romance. The slinkier "Nomad" is more suggestive of a slot at a subterranean nightclub, setting the stage for the low-key earworm "Charmed," a groove-based track with well-spaced guitar hooks, isolated backing "shoops," and a smoky vocal line ("Tell me, my love/Do you feel right?/Do you feel charmed?"). Elsewhere, "The Truth Is" evokes the R&B-tinged soft rock of bygone decades. There's a warmth to Up and Away that does suggest analog, with help from plenty of dreamy reverb and additional acoustic textures like Arabic stringed instrument the kanun, which serves to amplify the album's cosmopolitan flair. That instrument appears on closing tracks "Who Cares" and "Is It Over," which ends the inviting, sensual set with the words, "Can you tell me how?/How I never want to leave?"
© Marcy Donelson /TiVo