Pia Fraus

Originating in Estonia, Pia Fraus have maintained an extended presence as a shoegaze and dream pop ensemble whose sound fuses dense guitar layers with gentle vocal blends and electronics suggestive of autumn, qualities that readily support repeated remix interpretations. Through their self-established SekSound outlet the group has delivered multiple albums and shorter releases, among them the 2006 album Nature Heart Software and the 2013 overview Silmi Island. After their sixth studio album Empty Parks appeared in 2020, Pia Fraus returned to early compositions for the 2021 set Now You Know It Still Feels the Same. Evening Colours, which combines jangly pop with rhythms shaped by Krautrock, surfaced in 2023.

The musicians came together gradually following high-school encounters in Tallinn, where guitarist and vocalist Rein Fuks joined guitarist Tonis Kenkmaa, bassist Reijo Tagapere, and drummer Joosep Volk. Drawing initial inspiration from Stereolab and My Bloody Valentine, the collective explored synthesizers and added vocalist Kristel Loide plus keyboardist Kärt Ojavee. By autumn 1998 the name Pia Fraus had been adopted, and recording commenced the following year with the single “Blå.” That material soon led to “Moon Like a Pearl,” which later surfaced on the Estonian Unsigned compilation issued by Operation B Records and on Clairecords’ Atlantic Flowers collection. Regular sessions at Forwards Studios in Tartu, Estonia, became the norm. Their first album, Wonder What It’s Like, arrived in 2001 on the private Pia Records imprint and contained remixes credited to Estonian electronic artists Njuu, Galaktlan, Snafu, and Lobsand Dorje.

Live appearances across Eastern Europe followed promptly, and a cover of “Condemnation” was included on Kaleid Records’ 2001 Depeche Mode tribute No Hidden Catch. These efforts drew notice from California’s Clairecords, which issued the 2002 album In Solarium. Produced by Njuu’s Hendrik Luuk and Galaktlan’s Taavi Laatsit, the record highlighted the group’s atmospheric and tuneful textures. Shortly afterward Loide married and became Kristel Eplik; she departed on amicable terms after contributing to the 2003 Plastilina EP, with Eve Komp assuming vocal duties. Margus Voolpriit also took over drumming from Volk.

The refreshed lineup produced the EPs Mooie Island in 2004 and Chromatic Nights in 2005, later gathered by Japanese label Vinyl Junkie as Sailing on a Grapefruit Lake, before delivering the third studio album Nature Heart Software. In 2008 Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake served as producer for After Summer. The track “Yenissey” from that record formed the foundation for Ten Remixes of Yenissey, featuring contributions from His Name Is Alive, Future Pilot A.K.A., Seeland, and additional artists. The group further worked with Ulrich Schnauss on the single “Mute the Birds.”

After a prolonged hiatus Pia Fraus resurfaced in 2013 with Silmi Island, a retrospective that presented remixed, remastered, and re-recorded selections spanning their history together with a version of My Bloody Valentine’s “Strawberry Wine.” The single “Autumn Winds” followed in 2016, succeeded in 2017 by “Cloudy Eyes,” the band’s half of a split 7-inch with Rocketship, and by “That’s Not All.” Their fifth album, Field Ceremony, finally appeared in October of that year. Several remix EPs preceded the sixth long-player, Empty Parks, issued in 2020.

Marking the twentieth anniversary of their debut, the musicians re-recorded material written between 1998 and 2000; those versions emerged in 2021 as Now You Know It Still Feels the Same. Evening Colours, released in 2023, incorporated lush string arrangements supplied by Sean O’Hagan of High Llamas and Stereolab.