From Kyiv’s lyrical depths to an ambient, multilingual reinvention — how Хто захистить від повені дерева became a universal story of hidden pain, healing, and inner transformation.
“The strongest oak tree of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.” — Napoleon Hill
Google’s Deep Dive Podcast: Transforming Hidden Pain into Sound—The Emotional Resonance of “Flooded Roots”
Flooded Roots: Reimagining KULSHENKA’s Soul-Bearing EP for a Global Audience
From Kyiv’s lyrical depths to an ambient, multilingual reinvention — how “Хто захистить від повені дерева” became a universal story of hidden pain, healing, and inner transformation.
The hauntingly poetic world of Ukrainian singer-songwriter KULSHENKA unfolds like an emotional tapestry in her debut EP “Хто захистить від повені дерева” (“Who Will Protect the Trees from the Flood”). This deeply introspective work explores personal struggles, inner healing, and emotional authenticity through a symbolic lens where trees and water represent the human soul and its often invisible turmoil. Her original release stands as a compelling musical statement, blending languages and minimalist compositions to reach across cultural and emotional boundaries. Complementing this artistic core, KULSHENKA’s biography sheds light on her evolution from satirical performer to multidimensional artist grounded in vulnerability and truth. Expanding upon her themes, a conceptual adaptation titled “Flooded Roots” reinterprets the album’s messages for a broader audience, re-voiced and reimagined for 2025’s global ambient music landscape. This article explores all three phases: the original album, the artist behind it, and the visionary adaptation that carries her message even further into the world.
KULSHENKA’s EP: “Who Will Protect the Trees from the Flood”
At its heart, the EP is a profound meditation on identity, mental struggle, and the quiet resilience often hidden beneath a composed surface. KULSHENKA uses the metaphor of a tree submerged in water to represent a human being: the body as trunk, and the soul as the unseen roots. The water, both nurturing and threatening, symbolizes emotional struggle and transformation. Through this metaphor, the listener is drawn into an intimate experience of internal conflict, where external appearances often betray the true state of one’s spirit. The album resonates deeply in its multilingual presentation, with songs in Ukrainian, English, and French, adding a cross-cultural fluidity that enhances its accessibility and impact.
Each track on the EP offers a unique portal into the emotional topography KULSHENKA navigates. “Ліра” (Lyra) is a powerful anthem of self-belief during despair, while “Quarrel” introduces ambiguity in conflict—are we fighting others, or fragments of ourselves? Meanwhile, “Фата Моргана” critiques modern disconnection and blind conformity, echoing disillusionment with fleeting trends. The title track, “Хто захистить від повені дерева,” captures the core symbolism of the album most clearly, evoking powerful imagery of unseen suffering and the solitude of emotional endurance. Each song is sparse in arrangement yet rich in texture, allowing the listener to breathe with the lyrics and find their own echoes within them.
The entire EP is a declaration of emotional authenticity. The minimalist instrumentation underscores the fragility and rawness of her lyrical themes, while her multilingual songwriting allows her to transcend linguistic borders. In a world obsessed with perfection and surface-level beauty, KULSHENKA offers something quieter but more vital: truth, pain, and the resolve to remain vulnerable. Her work is not simply art; it is an act of emotional solidarity with anyone struggling to understand their own internal weather. In doing so, she creates not just music, but a refuge.
KULSHENKA: From Satirical Performer to Musical Truth-Teller
KULSHENKA’s biography adds crucial depth to her artistic evolution. Once known for her work with the witty and ironic group Panivalkova, she was perceived as playful and humorous—a sharp contrast to the meditative and emotional tones of her solo work. Her journey from this previous persona to the one expressed in “Who Will Protect the Trees…” marks a deliberate shedding of masks. In her own words, she acknowledges this shift, stating that she is “not who [they] remember” and that her new work is deeper, quieter, more reflective of her inner world. This transformation is not only thematic but personal, reflecting a broader desire for authenticity in both art and life.
As a multilingual artist and multi-instrumentalist from Kyiv, KULSHENKA’s approach to music is both technical and soulful. She sings in Ukrainian, English, French, and Spanish, adding layers of cultural resonance and emotional accessibility. Her minimalistic style is not due to a lack of skill, but rather a conscious artistic choice to strip down to the essentials—melody, message, emotion. This pared-down style allows listeners to engage directly with the heart of each track without the distraction of overproduction. KULSHENKA sees music as an emotional experience, and she crafts every piece with honesty and intention.
What makes KULSHENKA compelling beyond her music is her mission. She explicitly dedicates her work to those who feel lost or trapped in their own internal floods, offering her songs as lifelines. Her message is deeply humanistic: “You are not alone. Just wait—everything goes.” This sentiment transforms her music into a form of empathetic activism. In a world filled with noise, her quiet strength stands out, making her not just an artist, but a voice of emotional guidance for others navigating turbulent waters.
Flooded Roots: A Global Reimagining of the EP
The adaptation “Flooded Roots” takes KULSHENKA’s original emotional blueprint and recasts it through a contemporary, globally resonant lens. Each track has been reimagined with new English-language lyrics, male narration, and genre-bending soundscapes inspired by ambient, vaporwave, post-jazz, and electro-noir aesthetics. Far from a simple translation, this reworking builds a parallel emotional universe. “Not Who I Was” reframes the intro as a story of identity disintegration and rebirth, while “My Instrument Still Sings” turns “Ліра” into an anthem of perseverance against internal silence. The adaptation respects the emotional DNA of the original while bringing it into new stylistic and cultural territories.
The goal of “Flooded Roots” is not to replace but to extend—bringing the album’s themes of inner conflict, resilience, and vulnerability to an audience who may not speak Ukrainian but deeply understand pain. The metaphors are preserved but deepened: trees still bloom while dying, roots still drown invisibly, but now the lens shifts to a universal, human struggle echoed in multiple voices. Each song becomes a meditation on personal transformation, framed through the language of modern experimental music, allowing it to connect with ambient music fans, spoken-word audiences, and emotionally sensitive listeners worldwide.
Additionally, the new version is highly attuned to modern aesthetics. It offers rich visuals, modern podcast integration, and conceptual videos—each track has the potential to live as a stand-alone piece or as part of a unified audiovisual album. The adaptation also invites collaborative discussion, exemplified by its suitability for projects like Google’s Deep Dive Podcast, where AI-generated conversations explore the philosophical and emotional weight behind such music. In this way, “Flooded Roots” becomes not just a reinterpretation but a dialogue—between cultures, technologies, and inner lives.
The Power of Art to Unearth and Transform
KULSHENKA’s original EP, her artistic biography, and the expansive adaptation known as “Flooded Roots” form a complete cycle of expression, transformation, and universality. Each component brings unique value: the EP lays the emotional groundwork; the artist’s backstory reveals the courage behind her vulnerability; and the adaptation translates that courage into a new idiom for global resonance. Together, they demonstrate how music rooted in truth can cross languages, genres, and borders. The tree in floodwaters remains a powerful symbol—not only of human fragility but of strength, growth, and survival.
As Napoleon Hill once said, “The strongest oak tree is not the one protected from the storm.” This truth echoes through KULSHENKA’s journey and the new life breathed into her work through “Flooded Roots.” For those who feel submerged by life, this music is both an anchor and a light—an invitation to rise, even when no one sees the roots below.
EP Adaptation: “Flooded Roots”
(Speaks to the hidden emotional burdens, reframes the tree/water metaphor)
🌊 OVERARCHING THEMES • Internal conflict and transformation • Hidden pain beneath strength • Emotional solitude and the search for connection • Authenticity vs performance • Faith in oneself amid external pressures • Water as metaphor for emotional struggle or purification • Trees as metaphors for people—rooted, complex, silently suffering
🎵 TRACK ADAPTATIONS
🎵 Not Who I Was
[Intro] They used to laugh at my punchlines But they never caught the silence Now I wear stillness like a skin And I don’t miss the noise I lived in
[Verse 1] I was the mask, the echo, the joke Wrapped tight in light they mistook for hope All eyes, all teeth — I danced, I spoke But inside, the current broke
[Verse 2] You thought you knew me in the hallway smile But I was bleeding quiet the whole damn while The crowd loved who I pretended to be And I loved the lie for setting me free
[Verse 3] But the deeper I went, the less I belonged To the surface world that told me I was wrong Now I shed like bark what never fit And grow from the dark they called a pit
[Verse 4] They still ask for the man I outgrew But I can’t unsee what I’ve walked through I don’t mourn the part they loved before He was the lock — and I’m the door
[Chorus] I’m not who I was Not the smile they framed I burned that costume And stepped through the flame I’m not who I was But I’m finally real Even cracked Even bruised I can feel
[Bridge] This voice is quieter, but it’s mine And that’s worth more than any loud design If they miss the old me, let them grieve I’m not a ghost — I chose to leave
[Outro] Let them search for the old echoes I’m not hiding — I just changed keys Same breath, deeper lungs Same man, new release
🎵 My Instrument Still Sings
[Intro] I held the silence like a wound Waiting for the strings to bloom Dust on the frets, rust on the steel But some part of me still wants to feel
[Chorus] My instrument still sings Though I lost the song I wrote Strings still hum in broken wings And carry notes I never spoke My instrument still sings Even buried in the ache Let the silence try to drown it — It still breaks
[Verse 1] Winter speaks in empty halls Where echoes lean against the walls I played a song and no one came Still, the silence whispered my name
[Chorus] But my instrument still sings Though I lost the song I wrote Strings still hum in broken wings And carry notes I never spoke My instrument still sings Even buried in the ache Let the silence try to drown it — It still breaks
[Verse 2] I wore a face that fooled the crowd Made my grief look soft and proud But under layers of practiced light My hands still shook through every night
[Chorus] But my instrument still sings Though I lost the song I wrote Strings still hum in broken wings And carry notes I never spoke My instrument still sings Even buried in the ache Let the silence try to drown it — It still breaks
[Verse 3] I gave the world my loudest cry And they clapped like they heard a lullaby Now I sing only for what’s true Even if I’m the only one who knew
[Chorus] But my instrument still sings Though I lost the song I wrote Strings still hum in broken wings And carry notes I never spoke My instrument still sings Even buried in the ache Let the silence try to drown it — It still breaks
[Verse 4] My muse — don’t leave me in this dark Don’t fade like breath in winter’s bark Your voice once danced through every chord Without you, I forget what hope is for
[Chorus] But my instrument still sings Though I lost the song I wrote Strings still hum in broken wings And carry notes I never spoke My instrument still sings Even buried in the ache Let the silence try to drown it — It still breaks
[Bridge] Let them tune their lives to fashion I will tune mine to the ache If truth is the song that shatters Then I’ll keep what breaks
[Chorus] But my instrument still sings Though I lost the song I wrote Strings still hum in broken wings And carry notes I never spoke My instrument still sings Even buried in the ache Let the silence try to drown it — It still breaks
[Chorus] But my instrument still sings Though I lost the song I wrote Strings still hum in broken wings And carry notes I never spoke My instrument still sings Even buried in the ache Let the silence try to drown it — It still breaks
[Outro] I found you in the static In the sound between the strings You never really left me My instrument still sings
[Coda]
[Polish]
I wciąż śpiewa — poza końcem W każdym oddechu, w każdym dźwiękiem Nić duszy drży w każdej tonacji Żaden głos nie ginie w samotności
Progi pamiętają, pudło brzmi W ciszy zasiane — echa jej dni A wszyscy, którzy słuchają, którzy się łamią — Powstaną znów, gdy jej dźwięk się zjawia
To nie dla mnie tylko brzmi W ciemnych salach gra promień mgły Szeptana przysięga na strunie drga: Na zawsze i zawsze — mój instrument gra
To nie dla mnie tylko brzmi W ciemnych salach gra promień mgły Szeptana przysięga na strunie drga: Na zawsze i zawsze — mój instrument gra
To nie dla mnie tylko brzmi W ciemnych salach gra promień mgły Szeptana przysięga na strunie drga: Na zawsze i zawsze — mój instrument gra
To nie dla mnie tylko brzmi W ciemnych salach gra promień mgły Szeptana przysięga na strunie drga: Na zawsze i zawsze — mój instrument gra
🎵 Sleepless for You
[Intro] I saw you again in the hour with no name You wore the moon like a veil Spoke in rain Then faded Like you always do
[Verse 1] You only come when the sky forgets light Soft as silence, sharp as midnight I reach through fog, but never find The shape I’ve traced a thousand times
[Verse 2] Was it ever real — or only mine? Your kiss tastes like a borrowed line Each night you whisper something true Then vanish before I say it too
[Chorus] I’m sleepless for you For the ghost I almost hold For the warmth that feels like truth In a world grown so cold I’m sleepless for you Though I wake up alone Your shadow still lingers Like perfume on bone
[Verse 3] The bed’s still warm when the clock turns pale And your scent slips off my skin like veil I tell myself I won’t believe But every dusk, I lose that plea
[Verse 4] So I light the candle and face the glass Wait for the dream that never lasts In sleep, you’re love. In light, you’re gone. But I still hum our phantom song
[Chorus] I’m sleepless for you For the ghost I almost hold For the warmth that feels like truth In a world grown so cold I’m sleepless for you Though I wake up alone Your shadow still lingers Like perfume on bone
[Bridge] Maybe you’re real in a life I missed Or maybe you’re just what I resist Either way, I ache the same And call your name Without shame
[Chorus] I’m sleepless for you For the ghost I almost hold For the warmth that feels like truth In a world grown so cold I’m sleepless for you Though I wake up alone Your shadow still lingers Like perfume on bone
[Chorus] I’m sleepless for you For the ghost I almost hold For the warmth that feels like truth In a world grown so cold I’m sleepless for you Though I wake up alone Your shadow still lingers Like perfume on bone
[Outro] So come again Before the light Let the stars keep us Just one more night
🎵 No One Knew the Roots Were Drowning
[Intro] They said I looked steady Like I could carry the storm But no one looked below the waterline No one saw the roots torn
[Verse 1] I stood like I was built to last Branches high, a silhouette cast But beneath the tide, I held my breath Counting seasons close to death
[Chorus] No one knew the roots were drowning While the leaves looked green and strong No one heard the quiet cracking I’ve been breaking all along No one knew the roots were drowning Even when I called for rain You can bloom and still be dying You can shine and still be pain
[Verse 2] They leaned on me when winds grew sharp Called me strength, called me heart But I bent more than they knew Cracked in places no light blew
[Chorus] No one knew the roots were drowning While the leaves looked green and strong No one heard the quiet cracking I’ve been breaking all along No one knew the roots were drowning Even when I called for rain You can bloom and still be dying You can shine and still be pain
[Verse 3] Alone, I pulled others from the flood My arms, the rescue; my silence, the blood I smiled while the river stole Everything I’d tried to hold
[Chorus] No one knew the roots were drowning While the leaves looked green and strong No one heard the quiet cracking I’ve been breaking all along No one knew the roots were drowning Even when I called for rain You can bloom and still be dying You can shine and still be pain
[Verse 4] It’s not shame that keeps me still It’s the fear no one ever will Reach for me the way I reach Give to me the peace I preach
[Chorus] No one knew the roots were drowning While the leaves looked green and strong No one heard the quiet cracking I’ve been breaking all along No one knew the roots were drowning Even when I called for rain You can bloom and still be dying You can shine and still be pain
[Bridge] If you see me standing tall It’s not pride — it’s just survival But lean in close, and you’ll hear The creaking of my revival
[Chorus] No one knew the roots were drowning While the leaves looked green and strong No one heard the quiet cracking I’ve been breaking all along No one knew the roots were drowning Even when I called for rain You can bloom and still be dying You can shine and still be pain
[Chorus] No one knew the roots were drowning While the leaves looked green and strong No one heard the quiet cracking I’ve been breaking all along No one knew the roots were drowning Even when I called for rain You can bloom and still be dying You can shine and still be pain
[Outro] So if you ask me how I grow Know I’ve been flooding down below But I rise for those I love And for the soul that clings above
🎵 I Fought Myself
[Intro]
[Spoken word]
He looked so hard at me — like I was smoke, A memory burned, a cruel old joke. Eyes made of glass, but sharp like blades, Cutting through years I thought had decayed. “You look the same,” he said, half grin, As if regret could mask the sin. “I’ve changed,” he said, “but not for you,” And still I wondered if that was true. I wasn’t scared — not like before, But something shifted at my core. I walked away, heart split and lean, Unsure which ghost still haunts the scene.
[Verse 1] He asked why I left him back in time In the quiet, in the climb I said, “You slapped my face to win their praise Then that buried me for days”
[Verse 2] He laughed like it wasn’t true Like he hadn’t come unglued But the crack in his stare Said he knew the fracture too
[Verse 3] He called me out for every time I bit my tongue, never crossing a line He said I traded truth for peace Then blamed me because he couldn’t sleep
[Verse 4] He said, “You killed the boy I was And built a man they never trust Now we both wear shame like skin Tell me — did we ever really win?”
[Verse 5] I said, “You used my silence well Each bruise, each lie, a charm you’d sell But I was not the spell you broke — I was the ash that didn’t choke.”
[Verse 6] He reached for words but none came right His hands clenched ghosts he couldn’t fight The air went thick, his mask slipped low And I saw the child he couldn’t show
[Verse 7] “I rot in rooms where you once cried,” He said, “I built my pride on your denied.” I swallowed grief, still standing tall But wondered if I’d climbed at all
[Verse 8] We stood in ruins made of breath Of almost-love and near-death Then he turned — no rage, no plea Just, “What if the worst part… was me?”
[Bridge] Is the traitor him or me? Or the silence in between? I lost something I can’t name And still wake up the same
[Chorus] I fought myself In the mirror’s frame Took his blows And gave the blame I fought myself No crowd, no sound Just the fall When no one’s around I fought myself And in the end I wasn’t sure Who’d broke — or who’d mend
[Repeat]
[Outro] If you see me staring through Know I’m looking back at truth One man lost One woman left And neither one has breath
🎵The Mirage Broke
[Intro] It flickered first— a silver ghost dangling just beyond the pulse
[Chorus] The mirage fractured and the spell unraveled Veils fell like ash No need to scramble I let the fiction melt in folds and gathered truth with naked holds
[Verse 1] I nested in glyphs on liquid ground Trailed echoes not my own, profound Woke with borrowed mouths, each morn Whispering grace I’d never worn
[Chorus] The mirage fractured and the spell unraveled Veils fell like ash No need to scramble I let the fiction melt in folds and gathered truth with naked holds
[Verse 2] They painted me in prismed shame Fed my thirst a branded name Their claps—tin ghosts in velvet air Too faint to kiss, too thin to wear
[Chorus] The mirage fractured and the spell unraveled Veils fell like ash No need to scramble I let the fiction melt in folds and gathered truth with naked holds
[Verse 3] I sculpted self from phantom breeze A shimmer stitched with want and ease But the mirror laughed, a silent scream And showed the seams behind the gleam
[Chorus] The mirage fractured and the spell unraveled Veils fell like ash No need to scramble I let the fiction melt in folds and gathered truth with naked holds
[Verse 4] No halo, no heirloom spark or thread Just the marrow I’d long left for dead Beneath applause and golden haze Was the girl lost in mythic maze
[Chorus] The mirage fractured and the spell unraveled Veils fell like ash No need to scramble I let the fiction melt in folds and gathered truth with naked holds
[Bridge] I don’t dazzle—I persist And that, to me, is the kiss The image scorched, but I withstood Not perfect—just understood
[Chorus] The mirage fractured and the spell unraveled Veils fell like ash No need to scramble I let the fiction melt in folds and gathered truth with naked holds
[Outro] So let the trends dissolve in light I’ll walk duskward, out of sight Not to vanish— but to be a woman unbecoming me
How one displaced voice became a symphony — through TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana”
Aasha Rahmoni never planned on singing again. Not after the detention camp in southern Arizona. Not after the failed asylum application. Not after the mosque she prayed at in Sudan was erased by flood and fire in the same year. When she arrived in Minneapolis through a refugee support program, she spoke less than she once breathed — every word too heavy with memory. Her voice, once the jewel of her Sufi women’s chorus, had become something she wore like an old burn: healing on the surface, but aching underneath.
The winters of Minnesota were strange to her — white and muting. She took work cleaning nightshift offices. The silence of the hallways mirrored her inner life: orderly, wiped down, ghosted by things that once held light. It wasn’t until she stumbled across a flier on a community board — TATANKA presents: “Orchestra Americana – Reclaiming the Unheard” — that something flickered. At first, she assumed it was a mistake. Why would they want voices like hers? Voices soaked in centuries of colonization, escape, silence?
Still, something in the flyer called her: “We don’t need trained voices. We need real ones. We listen to the roots under the flood.”
Aasha arrived late to the first session. The rehearsal space smelled of patchouli, acrylic paint, and hot wires. Around her were women and femmes of every possible rhythm — a trans Lakota cellist, a blind Dominican flutist, an ex-Amish punk drummer, and a formerly incarcerated Black-Jewish composer who led warm-ups by reading Audre Lorde over lo-fi beats. No one looked at Aasha with pity. No one asked her to explain.
The conductor — a Ghanaian-Cree two-spirit sound poet named Maansi — simply asked, “What instrument do you miss most in your body?”
“My voice,” Aasha said, before she could think. It startled even her. She hadn’t heard it say anything soft in years.
Orchestra Americana was not a traditional orchestra. There were no uniforms, no auditions, no sheet music. Each piece was built around lived pain and shared transformation. One track was composed entirely from recordings of participants crying, layered with desert wind and distorted church bells. Another used heartbeat monitors during a breathing circle. But what moved Aasha most was the adaptation of “Flooded Roots.” The group studied KULSHENKA’s original EP, then the reimagined version. Maansi asked them all to write new lyrics as if they were the trees — not just during the flood, but after.
Aasha wrote her lyrics in Arabic and English: “They thought my silence was drowning / But I grew fruit where they saw rot.” When she sang it into the mic — trembling, then open, then full — something unclenched. The room paused. One of the guitarists, a queer Vietnamese Buddhist named Lan, whispered, “That’s the sound we were waiting for.”
Their recording of “Flooded Roots: Drowned, But Still Growing” was featured on the Google Deep Dive Podcast. Aasha heard herself back for the first time, layered with cello harmonics and rain FX. She wasn’t just background noise. She was the soil, the seed, and the song.
Months later, at a live showcase streamed to over 250,000 viewers, Aasha stood in traditional Sudanese tobe dyed with the handprints of her orchestra sisters. She introduced the piece simply: “This is for anyone who was told their roots were poison. We’re still here. And we sing.”
🎧 Takeaway
Aasha’s story illustrates what TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” and the Flooded Roots adaptation truly stand for: musical reclamation as healing. In amplifying the voices of marginalized, displaced, and once-silenced individuals — not by polishing them, but by honoring their rawness — the project becomes more than a musical experiment. It becomes a sacred archive of survival.
This tale reminds readers that art does not require translation to be understood. Whether sung in Arabic, Ukrainian, Spanish, or breath — the human truth it carries cuts through. Every marginalized identity holds a universe. And when we empower those voices through intentional platforms, we aren’t just creating art. We’re creating refuge.
🌳 Flooded Roots Reimagined: KULSHENKA by TATANKA
This text describes a musical project by TATANKA, a reimagining of Ukrainian artist KULSHENKA’s EP “Хто захистить від повені дерева” into an adaptation titled “Flooded Roots.” The original EP uses the metaphor of trees and water to explore inner emotional struggles and transformation, presented in multiple languages with minimalist instrumentation. The adaptation expands upon these themes for a global audience through ambient soundscapes and new English lyrics, even incorporating contributions from a refugee artist through TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” program. The project emphasizes the power of artistic expression as a means of healing, survival, and creating refuge for those experiencing hidden pain, highlighting that emotional truth transcends language.
Briefing: TATANKA’s Flooded Roots Adaptation of KULSHENKA’s EP
Source: Excerpts from “(AI Gen) Flooded Roots: TATANKA’s Reimagining of KULSHENKA’s Soul-Bearing EP – TATANKA” (May 12, 2025)
Key Subject: The briefing document focuses on TATANKA’s adaptation of Ukrainian singer-songwriter KULSHENKA’s debut EP, “Хто захистить від повені дерева” (“Who Will Protect the Trees from the Flood”), into a new work titled “Flooded Roots.” It explores the themes of both the original and adapted versions, the artistic evolution of KULSHENKA, and the broader mission of TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” project.
Main Themes and Ideas:
Hidden Pain, Healing, and Inner Transformation: This is the overarching theme explored through the metaphor of trees and water. The original EP uses this to represent the human soul and its often invisible turmoil. “Flooded Roots” expands this into a universal story.
Quote: “From Kyiv’s lyrical depths to an ambient, multilingual reinvention — how Хто захистить від повені дерева became a universal story of hidden pain, healing, and inner transformation.”
Quote: “The hauntingly poetic world of Ukrainian singer-songwriter KULSHENKA unfolds like an emotional tapestry in her debut EP “Хто захистить від поvenі дерева” (“Who Will Protect the Trees from the Flood”). This deeply introspective work explores personal struggles, inner healing, and emotional authenticity…”
Quote: “The adaptation “Flooded Roots” takes KULSHENKA’s original emotional blueprint and recasts it through a contemporary, globally resonant lens.”
The Tree and Water Metaphor: Central to both works is the use of trees submerged in water.
Quote: “KULSHENKA uses the metaphor of a tree submerged in water to represent a human being: the body as trunk, and the soul as the unseen roots. The water, both nurturing and threatening, symbolizes emotional struggle and transformation.”
Quote: “The tree in floodwaters remains a powerful symbol—not only of human fragility but of strength, growth, and survival.”
Quote: “The metaphors are preserved but deepened: trees still bloom while dying, roots still drown invisibly, but now the lens shifts to a universal, human struggle echoed in multiple voices.”
The lyrics of “No One Knew the Roots Were Drowning” directly illustrate this: “No one knew the roots were drowning / While the leaves looked green and strong / No one heard the quiet cracking / I’ve been breaking all along.”
Emotional Authenticity and Vulnerability: KULSHENKA’s work and the adaptation emphasize expressing inner truth, even when painful, and the courage required to be vulnerable.
Quote: “The entire EP is a declaration of emotional authenticity.”
Quote: “In a world obsessed with perfection and surface-level beauty, KULSHENKA offers something quieter but more vital: truth, pain, and the resolve to remain vulnerable.”
Quote: “Her journey from this previous persona to the one expressed in “Who Will Protect the Trees…” marks a deliberate shedding of masks.”
The lyrics of “Not Who I Was” capture this shedding of a performative persona: “I’m not who I was / Not the smile they framed / I burned that costume / And stepped through the flame.”
Cross-Cultural Resonance and Multilingualism: Both the original EP and “Flooded Roots” utilize multiple languages to enhance accessibility and impact.
Quote: “The album resonates deeply in its multilingual presentation, with songs in Ukrainian, English, and French, adding a cross-cultural fluidity that enhances its accessibility and impact.”
Quote: “As a multilingual artist and multi-instrumentalist from Kyiv, KULSHENKA’s approach to music is both technical and soulful. She sings in Ukrainian, English, French, and Spanish, adding layers of cultural resonance and emotional accessibility.”
Quote: “The goal of “Flooded Roots” is not to replace but to extend—bringing the album’s themes of inner conflict, resilience, and vulnerability to an audience who may not speak Ukrainian but deeply understand pain.”
Art as a Refuge and Act of Emotional Solidarity: KULSHENKA’s work is presented as a source of comfort and connection for those experiencing internal struggles.
Quote: “In doing so, she creates not just music, but a refuge.”
Quote: “Her message is deeply humanistic: “You are not alone. Just wait—everything goes.” This sentiment transforms her music into a form of empathetic activism.”
Musical Reclamation as Healing (TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana”): The “Flooded Roots” adaptation is contextualized within TATANKA’s broader project of empowering marginalized voices through music.
Quote: “Aasha’s story illustrates what TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” and the Flooded Roots adaptation truly stand for: musical reclamation as healing.”
Quote: “In amplifying the voices of marginalized, displaced, and once-silenced individuals — not by polishing them, but by honoring their rawness — the project becomes more than a musical experiment. It becomes a sacred archive of survival.“
Quote: “We don’t need trained voices. We need real ones. We listen to the roots under the flood.” (Quote attributed to TATANKA’s flyer).
Art Does Not Require Translation to be Understood: The emotional truth carried within the music transcends linguistic barriers.
Quote: “This tale reminds readers that art does not require translation to be understood.”
Quote: “Whether sung in Arabic, Ukrainian, Spanish, or breath — the human truth it carries cuts through.”
Transformation from Performance to Truth-Telling: KULSHENKA’s personal journey from a satirical performer to a vulnerable solo artist is highlighted.
Quote: “Her journey from this previous persona to the one expressed in “Who Will Protect the Trees…” marks a deliberate shedding of masks.”
Quote: “In her own words, she acknowledges this shift, stating that she is “not who [they] remember” and that her new work is deeper, quieter, more reflective of her inner world.”
Most Important Ideas or Facts:
KULSHENKA’s Original EP:“Хто захистить від повені дерева” is a deeply personal work exploring inner struggle, healing, and authenticity through the tree/water metaphor. It is multilingual (Ukrainian, English, French) and features minimalist compositions. Key tracks include “Ліра” (Lyra), “Quarrel,” “Фата Моргана,” and the title track.
KULSHENKA’s Background: She transitioned from a satirical group (Panivalkova) to a solo artist focused on vulnerability and truth. She is a multilingual multi-instrumentalist from Kyiv. Her mission is to offer her songs as lifelines for those feeling lost.
“Flooded Roots” Adaptation: This reimagining translates the emotional themes for a global audience. It features new English lyrics, male narration, and incorporates ambient, vaporwave, post-jazz, and electro-noir sounds. It aims to extend the original message rather than replace it.
TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana”: This project provides a platform for marginalized voices to express themselves through music. The “Flooded Roots” adaptation is part of this initiative, highlighting musical reclamation as healing.
Aasha Rahmoni’s Story: This narrative illustrates the impact of “Orchestra Americana” and the “Flooded Roots” adaptation on an individual. A displaced Sudanese woman finds her voice again through participating in the project, contributing lyrics in Arabic and English to a version titled “Flooded Roots: Drowned, But Still Growing.” Her story demonstrates the healing power of this musical initiative.
The Power of Art: The source emphasizes the capacity of art, particularly this project, to unearth hidden pain, facilitate transformation, and create a sense of refuge and solidarity.
Influence of Sitting Bull: Quotes from Sitting Bull are included, suggesting a connection to themes of indigenous rights, connection to nature, and collective well-being, aligning with TATANKA’s broader mission which includes DEI and SDGs.
AI Generation: The title explicitly states the source is “(AI Gen),” indicating that aspects of the content, likely the lyrical adaptations and potentially some of the narrative structure, were generated or influenced by AI.
Supporting Quotes for Important Ideas:
“Her original release stands as a compelling musical statement, blending languages and minimalist compositions to reach across cultural and emotional boundaries.” (KULSHENKA’s EP)
“KULSHENKA’s biography adds crucial depth to her artistic evolution. Once known for her work with the witty and ironic group Panivalkova, she was perceived as playful and humorous—a sharp contrast to the meditative and emotional tones of her solo work.” (KULSHENKA’s Background)
“The adaptation “Flooded Roots” takes KULSHENKA’s original emotional blueprint and recasts it through a contemporary, globally resonant lens. Each track has been reimagined with new English-language lyrics, male narration, and genre-bending soundscapes inspired by ambient, vaporwave, post-jazz, and electro-noir aesthetics.” (“Flooded Roots” Adaptation)
“Aasha’s story illustrates what TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” and the Flooded Roots adaptation truly stand for: musical reclamation as healing.” (TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” and Aasha’s Story)
“The tree in floodwaters remains a powerful symbol—not only of human fragility but of strength, growth, and survival.” (The Power of Art)
This briefing provides a comprehensive overview of the source material, highlighting the core themes, the artistic evolution of KULSHENKA, the nature and purpose of the “Flooded Roots” adaptation, and its place within the broader mission of TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” project, supported by relevant quotes.
FAQ – Flooded Roots: Music of Hidden Strength
What is KULSHENKA’s original EP “Хто захистить від повені дерева” (“Who Will Protect the Trees from the Flood”) about?
KULSHENKA’s EP is a deeply personal and introspective exploration of identity, mental struggle, and resilience. Using the metaphor of a tree (representing the human being) submerged in water (symbolizing emotional struggle and transformation), the EP delves into the hidden pain and invisible turmoil beneath a composed exterior. It highlights the quiet endurance required to navigate internal conflicts and emphasizes the solitude often felt during emotional hardship. The album is characterized by its minimalist compositions and multilingual lyrics in Ukrainian, English, and French, which help to transcend linguistic boundaries and create a sense of cross-cultural connection.
How does KULSHENKA’s artistic journey inform her solo EP?
KULSHENKA’s transition from a satirical performer with the group Panivalkova to the vulnerable and authentic artist behind “Who Will Protect the Trees from the Flood” is a significant part of her story. Her biography reveals a conscious decision to shed her previous humorous persona and embrace a deeper, more reflective artistic expression that mirrors her inner world. This evolution demonstrates a desire for authenticity in both her art and personal life, showcasing her journey from performing for others to creating work that is true to herself. As a multilingual multi-instrumentalist from Kyiv, this shift reflects a deliberate artistic choice to prioritize raw emotion and message over elaborate production.
What is the core metaphor used in KULSHENKA’s EP and what does it represent?
The central metaphor in KULSHENKA’s EP is the image of a tree in floodwaters. The tree itself symbolizes a human being, with the body as the trunk and the unseen roots representing the soul or inner self. The water, in this context, is a powerful symbol of emotional struggle, turmoil, and transformation. It can be both a nurturing force and a destructive one. The image of the roots drowning while the visible tree appears strong encapsulates the theme of hidden pain and the invisible battles people fight beneath a seemingly stable surface.
What is “Flooded Roots” and how does it relate to KULSHENKA’s original EP?
“Flooded Roots” is a conceptual adaptation and reimagining of KULSHENKA’s original EP, designed to reach a broader global audience. It builds upon the emotional and thematic blueprint of the original but recasts it through contemporary ambient, vaporwave, post-jazz, and electro-noir aesthetics. This adaptation features new English-language lyrics and male narration, extending the original metaphors and creating a parallel emotional universe. The goal of “Flooded Roots” is not to replace the original but to extend its message of inner conflict, resilience, and vulnerability to listeners who may not understand Ukrainian, while preserving and deepening the core themes.
What are the overarching themes explored in both KULSHENKA’s EP and the “Flooded Roots” adaptation?
Both the original EP and the “Flooded Roots” adaptation explore several overarching themes. These include internal conflict and transformation, the concept of hidden pain masked by outward strength, the emotional solitude experienced during difficult times, and the search for connection. They also delve into the tension between authenticity and performance, maintaining faith in oneself despite external pressures, and the symbolic use of water as a metaphor for emotional struggle or purification. Ultimately, the tree/water metaphor represents people who are rooted, complex, and may be silently suffering.
How does TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” connect with the “Flooded Roots” adaptation?
TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” is a project focused on “Reclaiming the Unheard” and provides a platform for marginalized and silenced voices to express themselves through music. Aasha Rahmoni’s story highlights how “Orchestra Americana” used the “Flooded Roots” adaptation as a framework for musical reclamation and healing. Participants studied both KULSHENKA’s original and the adaptation, using the themes as inspiration to write their own lyrics about survival and resilience. This demonstrates how “Flooded Roots” serves as a catalyst for others to explore their own experiences of hidden pain and transformation within a supportive and inclusive artistic environment.
What does Aasha Rahmoni’s story exemplify about the impact of “Orchestra Americana” and “Flooded Roots”?
Aasha Rahmoni’s story powerfully illustrates the core mission of TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” and the impact of the “Flooded Roots” adaptation. Her journey from silence and displacement to finding her voice through singing her story in Arabic and English within the “Orchestra Americana” framework demonstrates musical reclamation as a profound form of healing. Her experience underscores that art rooted in human truth does not require translation to be understood and that empowering marginalized voices through intentional platforms like “Orchestra Americana” creates not just art, but a vital refuge. Her lyric, “They thought my silence was drowning / But I grew fruit where they saw rot,” perfectly captures the themes of hidden resilience and unexpected growth explored in “Flooded Roots.”
What message does KULSHENKA and the “Flooded Roots” project offer to listeners?
KULSHENKA’s original music and the “Flooded Roots” adaptation offer a message of solidarity, hope, and resilience to anyone struggling with internal challenges. KULSHENKA explicitly dedicates her work to those who feel lost or trapped, offering her songs as lifelines and emphasizing that “You are not alone. Just wait—everything goes.” The projects collectively convey that hidden pain is real but does not diminish one’s strength. The symbol of the tree in floodwaters ultimately represents not just fragility but the capacity for strength, growth, and survival, reminding listeners that even when submerged by life, it is possible to rise.
TATANKA’s Reimagining of KULSHENKA’s EP: A Study Guide
Quiz
What is the central metaphor KULSHENKA uses in her original EP “Хто захистить від повені дерева”? Explain the symbolic meaning of the trees and water.
KULSHENKA’s original EP includes songs in multiple languages. Name at least three languages mentioned in the article.
How does KULSHENKA’s artistic persona in her solo work differ from her previous work with the group Panivalkova?
What is the stated mission behind KULSHENKA’s music, beyond artistic expression?
What is the title of the conceptual adaptation of KULSHENKA’s EP discussed in the article?
Beyond simple translation, how does “Flooded Roots” reinterpret the original EP’s themes? Mention at least two ways.
What are some of the musical genres and aesthetics that influenced the “Flooded Roots” adaptation?
What is TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana”? What is its core mission or approach to music?
Who is Aasha Rahmoni, and what is her significance in the “Roots in Reverb” section?
The article suggests that “art does not require translation to be understood.” How does Aasha’s story illustrate this point?
Quiz Answer Key
The central metaphor is a tree submerged in water. The tree represents a human being, with the body as the trunk and the soul as the unseen roots. The water symbolizes emotional struggle, transformation, and potential drowning.
The article mentions Ukrainian, English, French, and Spanish as languages KULSHENKA sings in.
With Panivalkova, KULSHENKA was known for being witty and ironic. Her solo work is described as deeply introspective, meditative, and emotionally vulnerable, reflecting a shift towards authenticity.
KULSHENKA dedicates her work to those who feel lost or trapped by their internal struggles, offering her songs as emotional support and a message that they are not alone and things will eventually pass.
The conceptual adaptation of KULSHENKA’s EP is titled “Flooded Roots.”
“Flooded Roots” reframes the intro, reimagines specific songs with new English lyrics and male narration, and introduces new genre-bending soundscapes. It aims to extend the original’s themes to a broader global audience through a different stylistic lens.
The “Flooded Roots” adaptation is influenced by ambient, vaporwave, post-jazz, and electro-noir aesthetics.
TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” is a non-traditional musical group composed of marginalized, displaced, and once-silenced individuals. Its mission is musical reclamation as healing, amplifying real voices and honoring their rawness.
Aasha Rahmoni is a Sudanese woman who lost her voice due to trauma after displacement. She rediscovered it and became a key participant in TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana,” contributing lyrics and vocals to their adaptation of “Flooded Roots.”
Aasha’s story illustrates this point because even though her original lyrics were in Arabic, the emotional truth they carried connected deeply with the other orchestra members and listeners, showing that the feeling and message of art can transcend linguistic barriers.
Essay Questions
Analyze how the metaphor of the tree and water functions throughout both KULSHENKA’s original EP and the “Flooded Roots” adaptation. Discuss how this central image evolves or is reinterpreted between the two versions.
Discuss the concept of “musical reclamation as healing” as presented in the article, using Aasha Rahmoni’s story as a primary example. How does TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” facilitate this process for participants?
Compare and contrast KULSHENKA’s artistic journey from Panivalkova to her solo work and the subsequent adaptation in “Flooded Roots.” How do these different phases reflect a broader theme of authenticity and transformation?
Explore the role of multilingualism and genre-bending in making KULSHENKA’s message and the “Flooded Roots” adaptation accessible to a global audience. How do these elements enhance the emotional impact and universality of the work?
Examine the themes of hidden pain, vulnerability, and resilience as presented across KULSHENKA’s original EP, her biography, and the “Flooded Roots” adaptation. How does the article argue that this music serves as a “refuge” or “emotional solidarity”?
Glossary of Key Terms
Emotional Authenticity: The core theme in KULSHENKA’s solo work and the “Flooded Roots” adaptation, emphasizing vulnerability, truth, and revealing one’s genuine internal state rather than presenting a surface-level persona.
KULSHENKA: A Ukrainian singer-songwriter whose debut EP “Хто захистить від повені дерева” is the subject of the article. Known for her shift from satirical performance to deeply introspective solo work.
“Хто захистить від повені дерева” (“Who Will Protect the Trees from the Flood”):* KULSHENKA’s debut EP, characterized by minimalist compositions, multilingual lyrics, and the central metaphor of trees in water representing the human soul’s inner turmoil.
Flooded Roots: The conceptual adaptation of KULSHENKA’s EP by TATANKA. It reimagines the original themes with new English lyrics, male narration, and a mix of ambient, vaporwave, post-jazz, and electro-noir sounds for a global audience.
TATANKA: The organization or platform responsible for the “Flooded Roots” adaptation and the “Orchestra Americana” project, focused on music and various missions including AI, DEI, and SDGs.
Orchestra Americana: A non-traditional musical ensemble within TATANKA that aims to amplify the voices of marginalized and silenced individuals, creating music based on lived experiences and shared transformation.
Musical Reclamation as Healing: The process, central to TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” and the Flooded Roots adaptation, where creating and performing music based on personal truth and experience serves as a form of emotional healing and recovery for participants.
Ambient Music: A genre of music characterized by its atmospheric and unobtrusive nature, often used to create a particular mood or setting.
Vaporwave: A microgenre of electronic music and a visual art style that emerged in the early 2010s. It is known for its nostalgic, often ironic, engagement with retro aesthetics, particularly from the 1980s and 1990s.
Post-Jazz: A broad term referring to musical styles that build upon or deviate from traditional jazz forms, often incorporating elements from other genres or employing experimental structures and instrumentation.
Electro-Noir: A term that likely refers to music combining electronic sounds and aesthetics with the dark, moody, and often mysterious atmosphere associated with film noir.
Aasha Rahmoni: A Sudanese refugee who participates in TATANKA’s “Orchestra Americana” and contributes to the “Flooded Roots” adaptation, symbolizing the project’s mission of giving voice to the displaced and silenced.
Metaphor (Trees and Water): The symbolic representation used in KULSHENKA’s EP where trees represent human beings (body as trunk, soul as roots) and water represents emotional struggles, transformation, and hidden pain.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
