Irena Žilić probably did not know until fairly late that she would become a bit of a star on the Croatian indie scene. Having picked up the guitar only by the age of sixteen, she had no idea that she will be touring with Morcheeba within a decade. Or that she will earn a spot on this here show.
Irena Žilić
As a singer-songwriter, Irena Žilić is a late bloomer by any definition. She only discovered her passion for music in high school and she had the good sense to graduate from an actual university with an actual degree before embarking on a musical career.
Irena Žilić is a trained biologist and has for a long while lived a double life of a biologist and a musician. She even said on many occasions that it was the crossroads between the inert and the living nature that fascinated her at least as much as music does.
Eventually, however, the entertainment industry won out. Not only has Irena found success with a series of critically acclaimed albums. She opened for Morcheeba on their 2018 UK and Italy tour with her second album Haze and the iconic band covered her track Moon in 2021.
Technically, Irena Žilić qualifies as an indie artist, but that is purely because she transcends genres. From her initial EP titled Days of Innocence, her music was always intimate, more about how she interacted with the world rather than following any particular path or genre.
To date, Irena released two full length albums, two EPs and a series of singles. She also appeared in a couple of Croatian motion pictures, expanding her footprint in the regional entertainment industry.
All that said, fans would love for Irena Žilić to perform more regularly. But when she does, an exceptional auditory experience is all but guaranteed. Especially ever since he gathered a band around her to back her up.
And that’s all the time we have for today. Check out Irena Žilić on YouTube, Bandcamp and wherever you get your music from, and Balkan Express will be back next week.
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Balkan Express brings you the latest and/or the greatest in music from the Balkans. On air every Tuesday at 11am on Ara City Radio, it is hosted by Aljaž aka @pengovsky who once did the world a solid and vowed never to sing again in public. Which is how he ended up doing radio.