music discovery on our musicto Monday playlist
Each week, our global creator community listens to tracks sent through our musicto artist submission form. And each week we add our favorites to our musicto Monday playlist. With every monthly update of this music discovery playlist, we invite one musicto curator from our social network to choose a band or musician from our artist submissions to put in the spotlight. This month, music curator Jenna Barton puts the talented Anja Kotar in the spotlight.
Musical Artist Anja Kotar in the musicto Spotlight
Musical artist Anja Kotar submitted not one, but three tracks to our musicto community in 2022. I listened to and added all of these tracks to our musicto Monday playlist, as well as to personal playlists. Her fantastic track submissions ultimately led me to check out her whole discography — which I also fell in love with. Each song Anja produces is unique. Her mesmerizing voice and the classical elements in each track spoke to me as a listener.
Something that stood out to me was discovering that Anja had been creating her own musical version of a calendar for 2022. Every month this past year, she has released one new track named after that month and every song features elements of classical music pieces. From the peaceful snowfall in January to the spooky nights in October, every release of her music calendar, without fail, has captured the essence of that month.
Three songs from Anja Kotar’s music calendar 2022
October
I came across Anja’s music for the first time in the pop genre section of musicto’s artist submissions. It was for her single, “October.” Right away, the name of this track caught my attention. Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love everything, from the weather to the idea that Halloween is just around the corner, and Anja captured that so well in this track. I felt the spookiness coming from her haunting chorus, which happened to also remind me of the chorus of “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish. I had Anja’s track on repeat the whole month.
About this track, Anja writes:
“October is a campy Halloween-themed pop song about suspecting your neighbor of being a killer. Using Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No. 5” as its main hook, this track combines classical music with pop. It’s part of my 2022 project for 12 months — releasing a musical version of the calendar (one song per month, named and themed after that month). “October” is a blend between a modern Pop beat and vocal layering in the style of Ariana Grande, combining the sound effects and lyrical content of classical Halloween songs such as “Thriller” and “Spooky Scary Skeletons”. The main instrumental hook, as well as the bridge melody are an interpolation of Johann Strauss’ ‘Hungarian Dance No. 5’.
November
The second time I came across another of Anja Kotar’s tracks was when I saw the song title “November” in our pop submissions. Again, I fell in love with her music. This track was different from “October”; instead, it was powered by piano which I really enjoyed. The slow tempo and quiet atmosphere of the track reminded me of a warm cozy day inside. Anja had once again captured the peacefulness of fall.
Along with this submission Anja wrote:
“November is a La La Land-inspired acoustic piano ballad about people-watching on a rainy fall afternoon. It was written in the fall of 2019 in Seattle, on a Link train line to downtown Seattle. The song outro features Edward Elgar’s ‘Salut d’amour’ and was recorded by the famed strings played by Yoed Nir.”
December
Almost like clockwork, a few days into the month, Anja sent us her most recent track, titled “December”. I was very excited to hear what she was going to come out with to end her musical calendar for 2022. In this track, she captures the holiday spirit.
About her last music calendar track for 2022, Anja wrote:
“December is a cozy Christmas song about being single during the holidays, written and self-produced. The song features interpolations of different Christmas tunes, sprinkled throughout the production (‘O Christmas Tree’ can be heard playing in the background of the pre-chorus, while the chorus melody is layered over ‘Jingle Bells’).”
I have been following Anja’s journey for three months now and have listened to her entire calendar discography beginning with her song “January” and ending with “December”. While 2022 has come to a close, 2023 is just beginning, and I am so excited to hear what Anja Kotar does next!
You can listen to Jenna Barton’s compilation of Anja’s 2022 calendar singles on your favorite platform above, and support the super-talented musician Anja Kotar on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or through her official website!
