Award-winning Estonian vocalist, pianist, and composer Kadri Voorand returns with her deeply intimate new single 'Let Me Hold You', taken from her latest album 'Songs To Hold You', released through her own label, Wild Source Music. Known internationally for her emotionally rich songwriting and distinctive vocal style, Voorand continues to explore new depths of vulnerability and connection in this quietly powerful release.
Originally kept private for years, 'Let Me Hold You' began as a personal source of comfort; something Voorand would sing to herself in moments of stillness and reflection. That sense of closeness runs throughout the track, which unfolds through delicate piano arrangements and an unguarded vocal performance that feels both fragile and reassuring.
So with the new single out now, we sat down with her to find out more about her origins and what has been inspiring her most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
My first love was piano. The instrument at home was like a pet in the living room, and I loved to play with all of it – not only the keys, but also the inside, exploring its big and beautiful mechanism. Luckily, I was allowed.
My favourite way to play from the beginning was to compose. Mom has told me that I started to play and search for likeable notes as early as I could reach the keys. Learning the instrument in school cut my natural and free relationship with it for many years, until I graduated from the Academy of Music as a jazz vocalist. It was only after that that I started to restore my relationship with my first love, approaching piano the way my body and heart knew – through sensing the sound, the wood, and the keys.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
I grew up among folk musicians. My father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were village musicians. Since I was very little, I was on stage with my mom at folk music events where she was performing and leading the ensemble. Traditional music from where we come from, folk dancing, and runic singing, in addition to wearing national clothing.
But I especially fell in love with the atmosphere of world music festivals, the exotic acoustic instruments, and different singing traditions, especially harmonic singing. Musicians from different countries jamming backstage also created a meaning of music for me, because at the centre of it all was storytelling and love. Those two components are the most important for me until this day.
My mother was also a music teacher, and that meant spending extra time alongside her at choir rehearsals and music lessons. I had very little exposure to pop music throughout my childhood and even my teen years, just because the rooms and places where I was were already filled with rehearsals or live music generally. Being alone at home, I made my own music, and listening to records came into my life in my late teenage years.
What was the first album you remember owning?
The first album that my brother and I listened to countless times was a storytelling record on old vinyl. Music was mostly live for me because of the environment and lifestyle of my parents.
But I do remember the very first CD I bought on my own, with my own money, and that was because Michael Jackson had visited Estonia when I was 11 years old. For a country of one million people, that was huge. A whole year before and after, a lot of him was on the store shelves, so an autobiographical book and some kind of collection CD ended up in a small store in the town of Rakvere, near my home village.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
There is so much heavenly beautiful music out there, and I’m ok with not owning it. Sources of inspiration are definitely needed to grow as a musician. But in my mind there is always the yearning for a missing song to fill a need in me that no existing song covers, so I can’t help but feel like I am in a constant search for something new to heal wounds or emphasise the happiness of today.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
A ritual of breathing in all the radiance of magic and breathing out into my roots.
When and why? There are two main parts in the composing process. One is the birth of an idea. Some songs just happen, so I just have to be fast enough not to forget the idea before capturing it. And some need the space. The most fertile ground is a sufficient amount of silence and a need to dream or a need to live through a story, but most often a need to direct emotions.
The birth of the hook, the main idea, is quite a sweet but rather short process timewise. The second part is creating a form around it, for stage or a recording. This is many times longer and demanding in skill. Not to get lost in technicalities and to keep my mind and heart tuned to soul, the story, and love, I often take extra time to ritually connect to my roots, which for me means connecting to ancient wisdom that is hidden deep inside each and every one of us. I do it by connecting my breathing to aligned thoughts.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Jon Hopkins has been a frequent companion for my meditation hours.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
I have both entertaining and meditative performance modes, which I play with depending on the venue and audience. So, Jon Hopkins or Jacob Collier. With the first, I think we’d create a fantastic duo in between and make a beautiful spiritual journey together. And with Jacob, we’d tell stories – me more through the emotional information in my voice and free melodic approach, and Jacob more through choice of harmony and rhythm.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
First, getting to know oneself. If I put true life and emotions into art and on stage and keep being honest in detail, then seeing the beauty of every colour and feeling is inevitable. I learn to love the story for all it is. In music or arts, you don’t need to make the story look better. An honest narrative is always beautiful.
Making connections with the audience, sharing, and feeling the joy of giving someone inspiration, hope, or room for desires and dreaming. The magic of sharing is being inspired to create, to inspire someone to create something inspiring.
For me, it is the magic of sharing the room. I know musicians that love to work in the studio, and for me this is just the necessary evil because I feel that my music comes alive at concerts and together with the audience. This is also why I’ve found it hard to record and sell my music, and why I feel that my records don’t really come close to the live experience. But I guess I’ll have to live with that and hope that the people that do come to my concerts spread the word.
And what is the most frustrating part?
I have been told that my creation is mostly in my live shows, and the concert is like a ghost that goes through a mind and body, so you want to share the experience, but when trying to photograph it, it is never captured. And I actually see it is true. One has to come and experience it live, because not even the live recordings do the trick, they say, and I must agree. I feel that something magical happens in the room and is only meant for the people on site.
But the music business often needs it to become a product, a file, a genre, a deadline, a little square on a screen. I understand why those things are necessary, but sometimes it is frustrating to translate something very intimate and changeable into a fixed format. Recording can be frustrating for the same reason. I can spend a long time searching for the take where the feeling is absolutely true, not just beautiful or technically correct.
Recording is simply a different format for me. I think with the last album I have created a safe space for one to take time to be alone with their feelings, whatever kind. In a concert, I hold the room with a slightly different set of skills.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
“You can always change your mind!”
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Kadri Voorand's new single 'Let Me Hold You' is out now. Check it out in the player below.