"Electronic Shkodra" in a fiery game with the noises of everyday life

At a time when everything requires a clear form and a readable message, the duo chooses to remain in a state of wonder. "We live in times of suspense, where it is difficult to understand where humanity is going, Europe, Albania, Shkodra, new beginnings, family... very simply... our songs reflect this feeling," says the duo of "Shkodrës Elektronike", Beatriçe Gjergji and Kolë Laca. "Zjerm" at "Eurovision" is just a station of the year 2025

It is not just a name on the stage. “Shkodra Elektronike” is a project that was born outside the physical borders of Shkodra, but that carries it in the essence of its sound. It is a duet where electronics coexist with Albanian tradition, a mixture of modern noises and the musical memory of a city that never stops working on language, rhythm and memory. This way of musical thinking has made “Shkodra Elektronike” a name that goes beyond the usual musical markers, a verb that expresses the action of the past between different artistic worlds.

Kolë Laca and Beatriçe Gjergji have planted their music far from their homeland, in Italy, but this distance has not stripped them of the spirit of Shkodra. It has even pushed them to seek unconventional ways to bring it to a contemporary sound. Instead of taking from the folkloric repertoire as nostalgic relics, they have divided these elements into small particles and pushed them towards a language that is not afraid to confront electronics and modern musical structures. This mix between the memory of the city and today's technology gives it a unique approach, where tradition is no longer a mask, but is an active language.

It is no coincidence that this project ended up at “Eurovision” in 2025 – one of the biggest music stages in Europe – with the song “Zjerm”. From local festivals to national representation, their selection at the RTSH Song Festival, as well as their eighth place ranking in the European final, prove that what was born as a joy of experimentation can find echoes beyond geographical boundaries and common styles. Their performances are not just musical presentations; they are an expression where technology meets collective memory, a synthesis that challenges the public’s expectations of what can be called the “folklore” of the new era.

The origin and meaning of "Shkodra..."

The beginning of “Electronic Shkodra” is not related to an articulated vision or a long-term plan. There was no project in the classical sense of the word, no ambition to position itself on the stage, no claim to build a closed musical identity. The genesis was much simpler and, precisely for this reason, more honest.

also Culture 13 May 2025 "Zjerm" shines Albania towards the "Eurovision" final

"They just had a fun experimenting with Shkodra songs, nothing more or less," the members of the duo told KOHĪN. A fun experiment. A reaction that does not require legitimacy and does not owe anyone an explanation.

Experimentation here does not mean destruction or provocation, but an initial freedom and the fact that everything starts as “fun”, strips the process of imposed seriousness and places the music in a space of play. This space does not deny the weight of tradition, but refuses to treat it as a burden. It is here that an approach begins to take shape that will later be read as a sustainable aesthetic.

This is how Beatriçe Gjergji and Kolë Laca took the first step. They founded the group-project under the umbrella of “Shkodra Elektronike” in 2019 and in that year they also started their first performances at several important Italian and Albanian events, performing recreations and arrangements of songs from the Shkodran repertoire. The first was on the occasion of the opening of the Kosovo and Albania Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2019. Later, this launch was deepened at the opening of the personal exhibition of the artist Adrian Paci in Tirana.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, they participated in the fourth edition of "Zâ Fest", singing Shkodra civic songs interwoven with electronic sounds, at the Rozafa Castle in Shkodra.

The Shkodra that enters their music is not a postcard city. It is neither an idealized place nor a space for sentimental return. It appears as an acoustic landscape in fact, filled with noise and layers of sounds that do not seek to be beautiful or pure.

"In terms of sound, it's the noises of the city and the noises of the taverns, while in terms of emotion, the vapors of the brandy kettle sway us...", they say when describing the influence of Shkodra on their inspiration, which does not appear as nostalgia.

This choice shifts the focus from the melody to the environment. The image of the steam from the brandy cauldron deepens this relationship with the city. It is a metaphor that conveys fog, fluctuation and ambiguity, a state that is not easily fixed. In this sense, Shkodra becomes an emotional state, not a place, and the music functions as a reflection of this constant fluctuation.

The language that is sung during periods of suspension

In 2020, they began releasing their first songs. The original song "Ku e gjeta vedin" was the winner of the special award at the "Luleborë" festival, and they also released other versions a year later, such as "Synin si qershia" and "Turtulleshë". The latter also becomes part of the EP album "Live @ Uzina", released in 2022, alongside the recreation of the songs "Kur perëndon dielli", "Pranverë e bukur" and "Sa e kandshme vjollcë ti je". In December 2022, they came to Prishtina and in the summer of 2023 also to the fourth edition of the "Autostrada Biennale" in Prizren.

Despite the changes in repertoire and form, one element remains unchanged throughout this first phase of the project: the relationship with the language. The pronunciation does not require to be special, but familiar, familiar and used.

“We sing as we speak,” they say. This short sentence encapsulates an entire approach to language. It is not a performance, it is not an act constructed for the stage, nor a vocal exercise to produce emotion. Language is sung as it is used in everyday life, without artificial elevation and without seeking emotional charge. This shifts the emphasis from interpretation to communication.

In this way, their Albanian is freed from its traditional role in song, where it often carries an excessive emotional burden. Singing does not embellish the word, but leaves it as it is, with all its rigidity, simplicity, and inner rhythm.

The creative process does not start from a clear idea of ​​balance or harmony between elements. It goes through constant testing, where materials are tested without any guarantee that they will survive to the end.

"We try and experiment with forty songs and choose 10 to perform live, of which 5/6 end up on albums," they say.

In this process, the electronic and the traditional elements are not brought together as two separate worlds that must be reconciled. They are brought into a common space, most of the material remains outside and only a small part manages to function as a live performance or as an album track. This massive exclusion is not a loss, but in fact a filtering device.

More than the idea, it is the process that plays the role of keeping the relationship between tradition and electronics under control. The result is not a compromise, but a selection of those forms that stand the test of time and the stage.

Suspension does not appear in their music as a stylistic choice, but as an experienced state. The songs do not aim for a climax, because even the time in which they are born does not offer a clear orientation. Without a defined direction, without a narrative line that leads somewhere, the music follows the same uncertain rhythm that permeates everyday life.

"We live in times of suspense, where it is difficult to understand where humanity is going, Europe, Albania, Shkodra, new beginnings, family... very simply... our songs reflect this feeling," say the members of the duo "Shkodra Elektronike", describing the music they make.

This sense of suspense extends from the individual to the collective. Europe, Albania, the city, the family, all are mentioned as a chain of references that do not provide answers, but rather add to the ambiguity.

also Culture 19 dhj 2025 "Shkodra Elektronike" releases the new song "Fosforon"

The rejection of emotional peaks thus becomes an act of loyalty to the experience. The music does not dramatize what is already charged, but keeps it at a low and constant tension.

"Happy Children" with "Zjerm" to "Eurovision"

In November 2024, when the list of contestants in the 63rd edition of the RTSH Song Festival was announced, “Shkodra Elektronike” appeared in the lineup with the song “Zjerm”. It clearly stood out from the usual format of the competition. Built on a restrained aesthetic and an Albanian stripped of pathos, the song had provoked immediate reactions from the public, quickly becoming one of the most commented moments of the festival. The victory in the Festival final sealed this expectation, paving the way for Albania to represent itself on the European stage.

In the months that followed, the duo was part of several events organized by Eurovision fanatics in various cities in Europe, where the song was heard outside of the local context, before the project arrived in Basel, Switzerland, where the 69th edition of Eurovision was held, in May 2025. Qualifying for the final confirmed their presence beyond the effect of the moment, while the final result, eighth place, marked this participation as one of Albania's most successful performances in recent years.

Facing a stage like "Eurovision" has not come as a moment to reformat. There has been no attempt to adapt the aesthetics to the demands of television, nor to magnify the artistic gesture to respond to the logic of the spectacle. Their presence on this stage remains a continuation of what they have always done, without calculation and without adaptation strategy.

"We simply brought our own aesthetic, without waiting for it to adapt to television or not," they express their comment on the European scene.

This stance moves Eurovision from a center to a context. It does not appear as the culmination of a journey, but as a space where an existing aesthetic is placed in front of a large format without negotiation. Instead of the music being transformed to become legible, it stands in its own form, accepting the risk of non-conformity.

They felt no dilemma or hesitation at all about how their sound and Albanian would be received on such a large international stage.

"Zero," is their answer.

This single response, stripped of any explanation, functions as a stance. The lack of hesitation does not come from spectacular self-confidence, but from a clear relationship with what is being done. When music is not constructed to be accepted, the public's reception does not become a criterion.

Their music functions as a text that does not guide the reader. It does not offer keys to interpretation, nor does it require consensus. The refusal to explain itself is not a closure, but an openness to a listening that does not require guarantees of meaning. This keeps the song alive beyond the moment and beyond the need for immediate translation.

"We dance, we don't read... even though we think we are open books," the duo responded.

This response establishes a clear boundary between singing and rational interpretation. Music is not produced to be read, nor to be broken down into direct meanings. It exists as action, as sound, as presence.

Eurovision does not appear as a creative turning point, but as an event that rearranges the circumstances surrounding the project. The change does not affect the essence of the music, but the way it circulates. This keeps the narrative away from romanticism and ends the arc of the big stage with a cold but honest return to reality.

"We hope to leave behind goodwill... as far as the Albanian language and music are concerned, we are happy children surprised by tradition," "Shkodra Elektronike" concluded the conversation.

The closure does not come as a legacy statement. There is no claim to long-term impact, nor to historical standing. What remains is articulated as goodwill, a faint trace, not an engraved mark.

The relationship with the Albanian language and music is described through wonder, not through mastery. Being “happy children” places the project in a permanent position of learning, where tradition is not taken as capital, but as an unexpected resource.

In this way, the story ends where it began, in fun, in play, in incompletion. The tradition is not concluded, not archived and not explained. It continues to surprise. And the music, too, remains in motion, without promising more than an honest listening and an openness to what is not yet known.

also EXPRESS 6 August 2025 “Shkodra Elektronike” unites tradition and modernity at “DokuFest”

Immediately after returning from Basel, “Shkodra Elektronike” released the EP “Shndrit!” with five songs. In addition to the song “Zjerm” and the remixed version of that song by Italian producer and DJ Cristiano Crisci, known as “Clap! Clap!”, the album also includes the songs “E lirë”, “Askund”, and “Deri n'fund”. During that time, there were also performances in Kosovo. In June, they opened the 13th edition of the “FemArt” festival with a concert in Pristina, while in August they performed as part of the “DokuFest” in Prizren. After several other concerts in Albania, the duo released the song “Fosforon” in December, the concept of which is related to the idea of ​​light appearing in the dark.

At a time when everything requires a clear form and a readable message, the duo chooses to remain in a state of wonder. Not to know everything. Not to enclose tradition in definition. And perhaps precisely for this reason, it rings true. Not because it says a lot, but because it does not pretend to know more than it should.