Last Friday saw the release of What to Do, How to Live?, the compelling new album from Lakiko AKA Lana Kostić. Hailing from Sarajevo and now based in Lucerne, Switzerland, the classically trained cellist and singer pushes the boundaries of her instrument, exploring it in unusual ways and displaying her ability to draw deep emotion from the cello. On the album, she sings in Bosnian using a vocal technique from the Sevdalinka tradition. Lyrically the inspiration comes from her native Bosnia and Herzegovina and we find her “singing about a nomadic existence, Bosnian nightmares, an archaic past and a dystopian future”, as the press release describes. “The artistic vision”, it continues, “was drawn out of a period of deep contemplation, looking backwards, reflecting on the modern Balkan experience, her growing up in Sarajevo, and the scars and hardships that city and people have had to endure and thinking about how their future will unfold”. Lakiko shares some thoughts:

“My ‘loudest’ feeling is that I can’t change anything, and I don’t want to accept those rules of the game. After all, I left Sarajevo. That’s why I always have to point out that I have no right to criticise or say anything. But even though I left Sarajevo and BiH, it didn’t leave me, so I’m still dealing with it through music”

Alongside the album, Lakiko has released an accompanying short film titled A Hybrid Idea. The film was directed by Manfred Borsch and shot in several locations in and around Sarajevo. Check it out below and straight after listen to the previously released single ‘Nije buducnost za svakoga’, a deeply poignant and potent piece of music.