Ellie Barber is Ollella, she grew up in Seattle and started to study the cello from the age of 9. She previously worked as a creative director for a climate research institute aiming to further public awareness of climate change, but shifted to a full time musical career five years ago. The fruits of her labours are the recently released album, her second, entitled, ‘Antifragile’ from which ‘Mothers & Colors’ is taken. The album offers aspects of resilience – facing a chaotic world, with political noise and volatility and responding appropriately to these myriad stressors. ‘Antifragile‘ suggests an optimistic perspective on the durability of human nature to navigate uncertain times. It’s that, or just give in, right?
Ollella expounds on the meaning of colour within the song: “Mothers can be deeply sad: blues, purples, and mothers can be considered crazy and described as red and orange. And mothers can be joyful and full of love: yellows.” With it’s changing time signatures and unusual combination of instrumentation it’s an imaginative take on the singer-songwriter stance.
