With 'You Are the Flower', her first solo album, vocalist Daisy Press finds her voice in communion with the sainted and celebrated 12th century composer, Hildegard von Bingen.
Daisy's deeply personal approach, both irreverent and devotional, breathes new vibrant life into the world and work of the medieval visionary. Press first encountered Hildegard in a graduate school program at Oxford under the tutelage of the rock-star theologian nun Sister Benedicta Ward. Years later, in the midst of her career as a go-to, in-demand, classically-trained singer, spanning the diverse musical worlds of nightlife, classical new music, and experimental pop, searching for something she could call her own, Daisy rekindled her relationship with the 12th century mystic. Hildegard's words and music spoke to her of a reclaimed power, of taking up space and demanding autonomy. Even more so, of the ecstasy of the body. Of the six chants on 'You Are the Flower', three celebrate the martyred St. Ursula and three celebrate the Virgin Mary; they all speak about a devotion to the feminine. The first chant on the album, "Favus Distillans," proclaims Ursula as longing to "embrace the Lamb of God with honey and milk under her tongue," the imagery at once chaste and sensual. Fittingly, the album ends with "Ave Maria O Auctrix Vitae," a full-on psychedelic ride (and epic homage to the Virgin Mary). Hildegard was 42 was when she started having visions and started writing. So when Daisy approached the same time in her life, Hildegard resonated. Thus inspired, Press has put her own stamp on Hildegard, birthing a new voice into the world, and inviting listeners to go on this adventure with her.