GINA ÉTÉ – Prosopagnosia‌

You know this slight tiredness, this exhausting saturation after a big dinner? When you just ate a bit too much and hope that the subsequent espresso will ease the burden?

That’s precisely the feeling I’m left with by GINA ÉTÉ’s new album, Prosopagnosia‌. Granted, this metaphor could be perceived as rather negative. But it’s more a fair warning: the album is heavy and not easily digested.

First, I have to get it out of the way: GINA ÉTÉ has teased this album with the single release of Fyou:you, a pumping track with Swiss dialect lyrics. Naturally, this limits the song’s message about bodies, borders, gender, and discrimination. That’s why ÉTÉ has invited seven European musicians to create covers in multiple languages.
Despite this innovative approach, Fyou:you falls off in the grand scheme of Prosopagnosia‌. As a standalone single, the track and the idea work, but in the album’s context, the sound is too rash and cuts through an otherwise consistent album.

But this remains pretty much my only nitpick of GINA ÉTÉ’s otherwise breathtaking sophomore album, filled with filigrée and whimsical arrangements between chamber music, pop, and electronic sounds. I once wrote about GINA ÉTÉ: „This Zurich-based musician is something of a Swiss answer to Björk: influenced by many different styles, mysterious and—once you have immersed yourself in this sound universe—disarming.“ And this conclusion still rings true years later.

Often, the songs are eerily haunting, like Love To Work, an exploration of care and sex work. ÉTÉ explains in the press release: „Any work historically done by mostly women to care for others is underestimated, ill-paid, stigmatised, often done under precarious conditions. With Love To Work, I want to fight for their appreciation and for better, safer work conditions.”

Where Love To Work has its very unique, bold energy, The Bet and My Friend feature a flowing beauty, a fragile innocence in their melodies. In those more quiet moments, GINA ÉTÉ excels with impressive brilliance.

Again, I have to repeat: Prosopagnosia‌ is not an easily accessible work. It has a certain melancholy, a darker tone to it. The arrangements are complex and ever-shifting, like sonic chameleons. The themes explored aren’t a walk in the park either; they prompt us to reflect and be critical.

It took me several listening sessions, spread over a couple of weeks, to truly appreciate Prosopagnosia‌. First, my verdict would’ve been much worse. But now, the album has blossomed and grown on me. The intricate compositions, the sense that every little thing in those songs is meaningful and done with intent.

Take your time with this one.

GINA ÉTÉ – Prosopagnosia‌

Release: 07/02/2025

1. Prolog – This Mess I’m In
2. Love to Work
3. La Joie (au bout d’un moment)
4. The Bet
5. F***you:you
6. Interlude – Your Opinion
7. The Last Air
8. Blindside
9. My Friend
10. Your Opinion

Buy on Bandcamp