Who was that lady providing the vocals on "I Close My Eyes"? Mystery solved...

I have been asked by many people about the identity of the guest vocalist on "I Close My Eyes", currently a single, but slated to become part of mv7 - the work in progress. Well, worry no more, as a comprehensive biography was written up for the in-house Authentricity magazine by Frances Green, PR Assistant and the text clipping follows below:

Brunhilda Lenina Mannheim (who prefers to be known simply as "Lenina"), recently collaborated with Authentricity artist mad_vicar on the vibrant club track "I Close My Eyes". Already quite well known in the club scene across Europe, Lenina was a mysterious figure when the track hit the UK clubs. She was born in Leipzig in the Democratic Republic of Germany in 1980. As travel restrictions were lifted with the fall of the Berlin Wall, she moved with her family to Amsterdam in 1989. Lenina became active in politics whilst at high school, and the attended the Free University in the re-unified German capital Berlin.

Whilst at the Free University, she studied Politics, Economics, Drama, and Interpretive Dance (although little known by the general public, this is an artform close to mad_vicar's heart, possessing as he does a degree in Advanced Interpretive Dance from Moscow University). Lenina continued to be active in politics, and upon her return to Amsterdam, campaigned for, and won, a seat in the European Parliament representing Amsterdam South on the Socialist Reform Party ticket in 2002.

Despite her commitment to political activism, Lenina has remained a presence in the Amsterdam club scene, providing guest vocals for a number of local DJs and mixmeisters. Her earliest work was for DJ Janns, and his 2003 club hit "Op" (on Atomic Deposition Records, now deleted). It was in 2008 that mad_vicar happened to bump into Lenina, literally, as he was somewhat the worse for wear in the hip Club Tulip in July. After a long and fun conversation, he invited her to guest on a track for the mv7 album. Intrigued, she attended the recording sessions during a trip to the Anglo Celtic Islands in Summer 2009.

Critics have pointed to her "interesting" pronunciation, but mad_vicar himself felt this middle European accent actually made the track all the more interesting and beguiling. The sessions went extremely well, and the mixing of "I Close My Eyes" was completed in record time. It was released on Authentricity Electronic Gramophone Recordings in July 2009, to an enthuastic response, particularly in the clubs. Despite it's fifteen-plus minutes running time, mad_vicar refused to create any "radio edit" type versions - as is his usual manner. "I Close My Eyes is fifteen minutes long, and will remain fifteen minutes long. I am more than happy for a respected DJ, such as Shadow, having a go at remixing it, but I feel that fifteen minutes is a bare minimum. The track builds, dissembles, builds and dissembles in exactly the way I feel it should. I would rather get no radio play at all than to compromise on what I think is the essential spirit of the track."

Lenina herself, after hearing the completed mix, was very pleased with the results, and took a pile of complimentary copies back to Amsterdam with her, where it is becoming an underground success in the clubs. During an interview with Das Aftenblaat, she explained how much she "enjoyed the experience of recording in the north of the country, and that [she is] looking forward to new mad_vicar collaborations. Northern Britain was a refreshing change to the usual London scene."

Frances Green, PR Assistant, Authentricity Electronic Gramophone Recordings.