/ˌtesəˈto͝orə/

noun

In music, “tessitura” can be defined as the most comfortable and frequently used set of pitches for a given singer or musical instrument–i.e., the range of notes in which a certain voice presents its best-sounding or most characteristic timbre.

The In Love & WAR EP is called Tessitura because it represents a kind of “coming home” for songwriter, vocalist, violinist, and keyboardist Koi Anunta. Written, performed, and produced entirely by Koi, with the exception of the drums (Mike Diggs) on all the tracks, and on track 4, guitar (Jake Faun) and flute (Ricky Berger), this EP is the first original vocal and instrumental work that Koi has ever officially released because she had never felt comfortable enough to do so before now. Despite having contributed strings and keys to countless other artists’ recordings as a professional musician, Koi truly never thought that any of her private songwriting efforts were good enough for public consumption until 2018, when a music producer in Los Angeles happened to hear “Stars” (track 1), and convinced her to complete a full EP.

Tessitura is the result. Forged from the painful reality of many intense life experiences and further inspired by the artistry of iconic bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Garbage, Massive Attack, Portishead, Lamb, Tori Amos, Florence and the Machine, and Sarah McLachlan, these six songs have been woven into an elaborate, yet desolate soundscape that is part trip-hop and part symphony. Tessitura will be available digitally worldwide on June 21, 2019.

Tessitura was mixed by Ali Nikou and mastered by Andrew Balogh. Vocals and live drums were recorded by Ali Nikou at Blaster Master Productions in the Hollywood Hills, California. All other live and MIDI instrument recordings were done by Koi Anunta at her home studio in Hollywood, California, except for the drum programming on track 2 (Mike Diggs).

The music video for the lead single, “Gun To My Head,” was written, directed, produced and edited by Koi Anunta and shot by Angélica Rodriguez (Angelrod Films). The unbeatable combination of talent, friendship, gratitude, blood, sweat, and tears brought the video to life for a grand total of just $675. Huge thanks to Elyes Gabel and Billy Jayne for generously providing creative and technical advice for this project. The audio track for “Gun To My Head” will be available digitally worldwide for downloads and streaming on June 14, 2019. The world premiere of the music video for “Gun To My Head” will debut simultaneously and will be viewable only at www.youtube.com/inloveandwarband 

Album photography by Tyler Miles. Album design by Koi Anunta.

Special thanks to Bill Shinkle and Jim Shinkle for kindly providing permission to use their property for the album photography shoot.

An extra special, heartfelt thanks goes out to Pattama Anunta for her unwavering support of this EP from its inception, and for graciously providing the location for the “Gun To My Head” music video shoot.