Vanilla Ninja

Retro-pop-rock with synthie-sounds. Or something like that. Or entirely different? To categorize or force music into a certain drawer is still very popular but not always easy or entirely appropriate.

The girl-band Vanilla Ninja and their two international albums "Traces of Sadness" and "Blue Tattoo" is the perfect example of a music that refuses point-blank to be pigeon-holed.

There is no doubt that these four girls have delivered a first-class smash hit with their international debut albums. After their first singles "Tough Enough", "Don't Go Too Fast" and "Lier" (all of which reached the Top 25 of the German single-charts) rotated non-stop on the relevant music channels such as MTV2 Pop or VIVA, and "Traces of Sadness" rocketed non-stop to the peak of the charts: in Estonia, the home country of the rock quartet, it entered the charts at #1, while in Germany it entered the album charts at #3!

But now let's rewind back to the beginning of this phenomenon and see how it all began...

What kind of recipe for success do these four 18 to 20 year old girls Lenna, Katrin, Piret and Maarja a.k.a. Vanilla Ninja have?

On one hand of course the fact that this band is not a product of the many and very popular casting shows. They are not an artificial, fast-buck throw-together band. Vanilla Ninja is a real band – four attractive girls, who met in a school in Tallin and who all shared the same passion: music.

A passion, which in the course of time welded them together and one that they were determined to devote their lives to. That is how Vanilla Ninja, a fascinating group of singers and musicians, evolved. So it was hardly a surprise when "Vanilla Ninja", their self-titled longplay-debut, was an instant success shooting straight to the top and occupying the peak of the charts for months.

In no time Vanilla Ninja were crowned Estonia's new superstars – even ice-cream were named after them. And not without effect – more than 300.000 of the Vanilla Ninja flavour are sold each month. This is in a country with a total of 1.4 Million inhabitants...

However the comet-like international success of the four pop-rock girls cannot merely be put down to their looks and ice-cream flavour. It's as simple as it is conclusive: It is the amazing quality of the song material which Lenna, Katrin, Piret and Maarja present on their new album (rounded off by the "extended versions" of the tracks "Traces of Sadness" and "Heartless", as well as the videoclips to the hit singles "Tough Enough" and "Don't Go Too Fast") providing a deep insight into the complex and diverse spectrum of these four young artists.

All song material was written and precisely produced by David Brandes (Chris Norman, E-Rotic, Bad Boys Blue, Gracia). All tracks brim with hit potential as they are arranged with virtuosity.

This not only relates to the extremely successful and already released singles – the rocky "Tough Enough", the smoother "Don't Go Too Fast" and the fresh and drifting "Liar".

Vanilla Ninja's "Traces of Sadness" is without doubt one of the finest girl-band albums for many, many years. The new album "Blue Tattoo" continues in the same path with the mix of pop, rock, synth and even rock'n'roll. A melting-pop of many genres perfectly produced to a seamless stream of "narcotic" harmonies by David Brandes.

And despite having already produced one smash hit album – this is only the beginning of a very successful career.

After several TV appearances on programmes like "Bravo Super Show" and "Top of the Pops" Vanilla Ninja intend to tour Germany and wow fans with their amazing on-stage performance. And once you've seen the girls live on stage you'll become addicted anyway...

With (almost) countless smash singles and two hit albums Vanilla Ninja are armed to conquer the rest of the world!

Vanilla Ninja; "Traces of Sadness" and the new fresh album "Blue Tattoo": No real rocker can pass up this harmonious, amazing package!

Maarja left Vanilla Ninja in 2004 and started a solo-career in Germany spring 2005. Her replacement Triinu left the group in December 2005, so the current "line-up" is Lenna, Piret and Katrin. The group also left Bros Music/ David Brandes during 2005 so the upcoming third album will be produced by Stage Division.

(Biography by Bros Music./ Sony. Updates and "Blue Tattoo" comments by the webmaster.)