Feminine rage and power

Otago Daily Times

30-05-2025

The artist formally known as Calla is back and raging.
Rings the bells and sound the trumpets — Calla of Ursa has been born!
The operatic soprano, violinist, and producer formerly known as Calla has metamorphosed into a bold new incarnation, filled with righteous rage at the state of the planet and ready to bring her music to the world.
Her upcoming show in Ōtepoti, celebrating the release of her cinematic and danceable "electro-folk opera" album Animal Reaction , will be her final Aotearoa performance before she heads overseas to chase new musical horizons in the UK and Europe.
She leaves in just weeks.
In preparation, Calla Knudson-Hollebon, 27, has just come from a farewell of sorts from her role as the programme manager of Crescendo, in Tāmaki Makaurau — a social enterprise delivering free music programmes for young people.
It has been a fitting job for the musician, who says music "simply pours out of her".
Calla of Ursa has played violin since age 3 and was singing before she could talk.
She holds a first-class honours in performance voice and a key reason for her move overseas — as well as international touring — is the prestigious opportunity to study at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, in London.
Although one foot is in the classical world, the other is firmly in the contemporary; she taught herself electronic music production on her grandmother's desktop computer — "I was just messing around," she says modestly.
The songs of Animal Reaction effortlessly merge these analogue and digital worlds in mutually enhancing ways.
"Real-world sounds ground the timbre of the composition, while the digital makes it more than it could be in real life."
This hybrid — combined with her unique blend of classical and contemporary stylings — results in an album that feels timeless and fresh, rich with drama and texture.
Calla of Ursa's violin and the cello of her accompanist Olivia Wilding shift between eerie Tom Waits-esque plucks and scratches and lavish multi-layered soaring; the electronic production adds gritty industrial texture and tribal-inspired pop beats.
Calla of Ursa's inimitable voice soars and whispers throughout, guiding the album's emotional arc. The songs often begin gently, gradually building towards bold, booty-shaking climaxes.
One standout single, Face Me , withholds a beat almost entirely, instead luxuriating in layers of strings and honeyed vocals — the late drop is worth the wait, though you can't help but wish it lingered.
Calla of Ursa says she's constantly trying to "pave novel terrain" with her sound, even approaching To Be Sacred as a kind of symphony.
"It took ages to finish," she says with a laugh.
She admires artists who are equally boundary-pushing: "like Billie Eilish".
"She's huge for a reason — the music is so beautifully done and interesting."
Animal Reaction has a cinematic quality that conjures vivid, unbidden imagery.
"I want it to sound like a condensed movie score," says Calla of Ursa — and that goal has certainly been realised.
The album could easily soundtrack a film or serve as the theme for a prestige HBO series.
It's theatrical, even carnivalesque at times. The jerky rhythms of To Be Sacred invoke unsettling visions of the musician manipulated puppet-like.
Film scores are a goal for Calla of Ursa, and she has just completed her first: Bodies of Water , a Magnetic Boots production set for release soon.
Thematically, Animal Reaction is an album about feminine rage, she says.
After hearing a man remark that women are "a bit crazy around that time of month," she began to reflect on how society perceives the menstrual phase.
"There is so much fear and apprehension around women feeling strong things; what are we afraid of?" Animal Reaction is a reclamation of rage as a valid emotion; an exploration of what feminine rage might look like on a global level.
This is channelled into a response to the climate crisis, and the systemic subjugation of both people and the planet.
But the album is deeply personal too — "there are also songs about love, in all its different colours," she says.
"The ugly stuff, not just the pretty stuff."
Music is healing for Calla of Ursa, and through her own catharsis she hopes to facilitate catharsis for others, she says.
"Countless people tell me they've had transformative experiences through my music — it's an incredible honour."
She hopes people feel the themes of Animal Reaction deeply, helping them connect to their rage and become less complacent about the world.
Calla of Ursa sure seems more connected to her rage than "Calla" was, aesthetically at least. Gone is the soft ethereal fairy in a forest; here is a woman with stormy dark eyes and drips of blood-like red down her cheeks.
Her new name is inspired by the etymological root of Calla: Callisto, the Greek nymph who was transformed into the constellation Ursa Major.
"There were too many 'Calla's'," says the ambitious artist, who hopes to make a splash in Europe.
"But I'm also going to lap up all the creative goodness over there and bring it back home."
She's particularly eager to explore traditional music from Norway, Scotland, and Ireland, regions tied to her heritage. "Like kulning — it's a Scandinavian technique for singing to cows."
So, rest assured: we haven't lost her for good. And when she returns, she'll have some new tricks up her sleeve. The gig
• Calla of Ursa Animal Reaction album release gig, DropKicks, Dunedin, Friday June 6.