Born in Atlanta with a rebel’s heart, Los Angeles based singer, songwriter, and musician Arima Ederra has been catching songs like fireflies since she was five years old. A first born daughter to Ethiopian refugees who would eventually settle in Las Vegas, shortly after birth. The seeds that would lay the foundation of Arima’s career were first sown in the back of an Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It was here where she witnessed how mezmur, Ethiopian spiritual music, touched and transformed people. She remembers spending time after school with her father in a small community center where she would get lost in reading and writing— more tools for transformation that would shape Arima’s life and musical journey. Following high school, Arima began an open mic night with friends. It became a testing ground for the first songs she’d written and created a space for feedback and collaboration among peers.
Influenced by a dynamic range of artists including Sarah Vaughn, Amel Larrieux, Bob Marley, Lauryn Hill and various East African music played at home, it’s clear in Arima’s own creations that she’s not only a lover of, but a student of greatness. Since moving to Los Angeles, she has collaborated with cherished pieces of the musical quilt; working with talented artists like Noname, Mereba, Jon Bap and producer Teo Halm. Speaking on her 2016 EP release, Temporary Fixes, Arima states, “I wanted the music to be like medicine.” Arima’s voice and musical inclinations on this EP are both celestial and cathartic; her lyricism delivers sweet and somber truth while the music itself is fortifying. As a person who considers her contributions daily, making music is one of life’s most gratifying fruits of labor; both a libation and legacy that allows her to hold ancestors close, while acting as a vessel for future generations.
Her latest release, An Orange Colored Day, materialized over the last four years and is set to release in the fall of 2022. Most of the album began as recordings on Arima’s phone, her Voice Memos acting as a sonic diary— always available to catch magic when it strikes. “So much of the music has come to me like a flash of lightning,”Arima says. Oftentimes crediting angels on both sides of the veil for the messages found in her music. There’s a lot to be learned from grief; An Orange Colored Day embraces all depths of emotion while exploring light and darkness. On songs like “Free Again” she explores curiosity and writes from the perspective of a childhood imaginary friend— asking you to return to your inner child. And in “Dual Skies”, she tells the story of someone mourning the loss of a younger brother, reminding them that they can still dream of one another even in two different skies. “Portals” is a song of longing, yearning to be wanted when a love has slipped away, and what we’re met with when we’re impeccably honest with ourselves about love. The songs on this project are undeniably sobering while maintaining an imaginative, playful spirit.
An Orange Colored Day has been highly and unsurprisingly anticipated. This body of work is filled with storytelling soaked in heart—reminding us all to get free. A montage of lineage, labor and the wonderful mysteries of creativity from the highest source; Arima describes this forthcoming 11 track release as a dynamic exploration of her continued journey through grief, growth, love and loss.
