A young Ukrainian artist tipped as a future star by Music To Die For Recordings has fled her home as a “matter of life or death”.
Photo credit: Rena Ulrich – Official
After almost two years of “constant air raids and explosions”, Rena Ulrich – aka magic.made.by.r – has temporarily relocated from Kyiv to safety in Italy. With 24 February marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion into her home country, the DJ and producer has opened up about her reality of living in a war zone.
“It’s very important to point out that there’s a real war going on, not a ‘situation’ or a ‘conflict’ as people understandably call it to skirt around the reality,” said Rena. “There are constant air raids and explosions. You can’t plan anything; I’d wake up in the morning and the only thought on my mind was ‘Will I be alive tomorrow?’”
The 19-year-old DJ and producer admitted: “It’s been extremely difficult to stay focused on music, which has been my all-consuming passion from an early age. To be honest, it’s been hard to function normally, to live. But the best thing I can do is make music that makes people feel something and maybe helps distract them a little from all the crazy things going on in the world.”
Championing Emerging Talent
magic.made.by.r is one of two Ukrainian artists – the other is Indie Elephant – featured on British label Music To Die For Recordings’ new compilation album concept. Championing emerging talent and label signings “the world needs to hear”, each volume in the annual ‘Artists To Die For’ series comes in three distinct parts.
The series kicked off with ‘Music To Die For Presents: Artists To Die For v1’ in September. A selection of 12 DJ-friendly originals that traversed from lush, dreamy electronica and organic house, through melodic techno and tech-house to dancefloor destroying acid, it landed as a statement of intent, underscoring the eclectic, genre-defying attitude of the label.
The album features magic.made.by.r’s ‘Eternity’ – a beautifully melancholic yet hopeful slice of organic house and the lead single from her EP of the same name. It sits in good company with Indie Elephant’s ‘Other Side’, a slinky opus resplendent with mesmerizing ethereal vocals; Fauxplay’s big room electronica-meets-piano house stomper ‘Ascension’; and Stuart King’s stunning ‘Aloe Vera’.
Expanded & Remixed
Aimed at streaming and radio play, the ‘Edits’ version followed in late ’23. Now comes the final definitive version spanning three discs – ‘Artists To Die For Expanded & Remixed’. And this is where things get even more interesting, with the featured artists remixing another label mate’s track to complete the compendium.
For example, magic.made.by.r reworks Mallinder’s ‘Heavy Rotation’; Hudson adds a serious heads down dancefloor groove and emotive club-ready synth keys to Speakman x French For Rabbits collaboration ‘High’; and the.CHAIN elevates magic.made.by.r’s beautifully melancholic ‘Eternity’ to new heights of euphoria, adding his own vocals. Elsewhere, Indie Elephant morphs Ryan Martyn’s ‘Awakening Skies’ into a melon-twisting slice of wonky progressive house; Fauxplay toughens up Eyal F’s ‘The Boat’; and Stuart King takes Hudson x Fauxplay’s ‘Smoke Rings’ into more rueful and melodic house territory.
“The level of imagination, originality and creative thinking that all the artists display across the album is outstanding,” said label boss Johnny Hudson. “They’re not afraid to rip up the rulebook and the result is forward-thinking music that’ll impact listening experiences and dancefloors worldwide.”
“Music and my loved ones are the only things that make me hold on,” added Rena. “I can’t imagine my life without music and I’m grateful for every moment in the studio making new tunes.”
‘Music To Die For Presents: Artists To Die For Expanded & Remixed’ is out now on all major platforms. Follow the label on Instagram.
