A Prayer For Synchronicity: Dora Jar Immerses Herself in Her Dreams
With moving to a new city comes a sense of loneliness and isolation. Alt-pop star Dora Jar untangles a trance of emotion and hypnotic feelings after experiencing unfamiliarity in Warsaw and praying for synchronicities and meaningful coincidences to happen with the people she encountered.
“Bump,” a hypnotizing new single based on those magical encounters that can take life in an unexpected and inspiring new direction. “Bump” tugs at the heartstrings, showcasing Dora’s ability to deep dive into the senses; delicate vocals floating over distorted beats and haunting guitar melodies, cascading into bright and winding choruses that eventually evaporate into whispers. “When I bump into you, I ripple out of my illusion / All around me is the sound, I follow open hands and holograms / You take me for a molecule, I take you for a fool, I follow you into the open air.”
Ethereal, yet somber, the track is accompanied by a music video directed by Jocelyn Antequil. Dora becomes her own Alice in Wonderland caught between dream-like swims. The songstress recalls a dream of a man with teapots on his feet and interlaced imagery from a Czech film Daisies that inspired the songstress’ dream come to fruition.
With Dora Jar’s heartfelt melodies, backed by a relentless energy and lush instrumentals, the songstress delivers an exploratory, existential track that is aligned with her connection with a higher source and her dream-like trances. Dora is able to seamlessly take listeners on an enchanted journey into her dreams of fairytales and divine encounters.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Unpublished Magazine. Biggest congratulations on your single release “Bump.” I would love to hear the inspiration and creative process behind the single.
[DORA]: I was living in Poland for the first time ever, and I have my dad's side of the family who lives there. But it was a pretty new experience and coming from New York City where I would run into friends and people I knew every day. There was a sort of sense of loneliness, and like total unfamiliarity being in Warsaw. “Bump” kind of just came around as sort of the prayer for synchronicity and bumping into people I knew and I didn't care who it was as long as I knew them, but that didn't happen because everyone was new in my life.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Why do you love the song? Is there a specific lyric or message that stands out to you? What excites you the most about the song?
[DORA]: There's sort of this hypnotic feeling that I had when writing it and I remember making up the guitar part and I just was sitting on it for a few months before putting any melody or lyrics to it. I think I just sort of gradually untangled this trance of an emotion and really what it's about.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Alongside the track, the music video was also released. It's very ethereal and just a total beauty. What was the inspiration for the video and how was your experience filming it?
[DORA]: My inspiration for the video kind of came about in a few different pieces over time, but I like to kind of say it's like a collage of time, because it's not like I wrote the song and knew exactly what the video would be because I wrote the song in 2018, and it's obviously four years later. At around a similar time in my life, I had a dream about a long spindly man with teapots for feet and I never really connected that image in the song, but when it came time to make the video that image came back into my brain and wouldn't leave and I just kept on imagining it. I was also very inspired by this Czech film from the 60s called Daisies which was actually banned at the time it came out, which is a surrealist film following these two girls on their rampage of the world, eating all the food they can eat and being mischievous. So I took a lot of inspiration from that film and my weird dream and worked with a great team to make it happen.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You're currently on your first headlining tour, huge congratulations. How has that experience been for you so far?
[DORA]: Thank you. It's been amazing and full of surprises. The best part is just getting to meet the fans and see how a song that I've been writing in my bedroom for four years comes out and then people are singing it and have their own meaning and personal journeys attached to it is just really mind blowing and beautiful. It feels like a reunion with people I don't even know but I love very deeply.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Do you have any pre-show or post-show rituals that you do to help ensure that you play your best show?
[DORA]: I always try to remind myself that the reason I do what I do is just pure expression and connection with a greater source, and I also try to remind myself that I don't have to make sense all the time – there's beauty in the mystery. After shows are always kind of different. I always make sure to connect with my band before and after, and I love them all very much.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would love to share with Unpublished Magazine?
[DORA]: I will finish up this tour and then write an album.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Is there anything that you'd like to share with us about your upcoming album?
[DORA]: I don't know anything yet, but my vortex above my head knows everything. So I'll just try to suck all that info out over the next few months and then have some magically fun ecstasy.
