Dora is the dark alter ego of jazz-tinged pop singer / songwriter Maaike Siegerist and she brings her considerable writing and performing talents, particularly her singing into this persona. Her publicity describes Dora Lachaise thus ‘lives in an attic overlooking Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol. A European émigré drawn to the city’s lively arts scene and cloudy ciders’. This is a firm indication towards what to expect from Dora. The content of the work I have heard is dark indeed though also mischievous and playful as well as quality hummable.
Her influences are indeed distinctly European classic, folkie, swing. In the best tradition of many western European writers. Her influences are diverse from folk, jazz, pop and classical and she blends them into something that is distinctly ‘her’.
The ultimate tool in the performance arena is her wonderful voice. It has a quality and range that is totally captivating and stunning. What this voice delivers is soaring tunes, lyrically dense and thought provoking as well as retaining that slight black comedy element I referred to earlier.
The tunes are also brilliant. Dora really understands using the devices of melody to cajole, delight, build tension and retain the ear’s interest. She is a master craftsperson in her art. She is no slouch in the musical ability and production department aided and abetted by her long-time collaborator Jonni Slater, who also took her latest pictures, and their quality shows it was not just a lockdown Hobson’s choice.
The output publicly available at present is minimal but on the evidence of ‘Bone Collector’ (reviewed elsewhere on this site and the demos I have been fortunate enough to be privy to, 2021 will be an interesting year to follow this new branch. Find out more about Dora at https://doralachaise.com/ The follow up ‘I Confess’ is out first Friday in March and is already up for an award in her native Netherlands. A review will be here for sure closer to release time …. As most of us have to be she is on Spotify however purchases can be made from https://doralachaise.bandcamp.com/ and this is where lots of artists are turning in the absence of gigs or solid streaming revenue and customers get most value for money. Particularly if you purchase on one of the special offer Bandcamp Fridays, the first Friday of each month, when Bandcamp waive their commission.
SongSmith Global 