KÜLM is an Estonian-born experimental pop artist based in Lisbon. She draws inspiration from Lisbon’s shimmering light, translating it into sweeping, soundscape-like productions, and from her Estonian roots, resulting in choral-inspired, ethereal vocalisations.

Body of Work is the debut EP. Written between Stockholm and Lisbon, the work combines Swedish pop influences and layered synthesisers with Portugal’s emotive, slow-paced harmonies. It was written and produced by KÜLM, in parts in collaboration with Portuguese artist Matheus Paraizo.

The EP is a documentation of a reclamation of self. It explores themes of modern womanhood, grappling with external expectations and navigating the balance between care for others and connection with our internal world.

The story:
“I started writing the EP in Stockholm back in 2022. I was gravitating towards a lot of nature sounds and samples at first, playing with them endlessly on loop in the studio. I then started experimenting with synths and sample-based granular synths, creating these soothing, lo-fi landscapes that spoke to me.

At the time, I was struggling with my body, dealing with physical pain and mental exhaustion from burnout. I was wrestling with pain, and trying to find balance between taking care of my health while maintaining work, relationships, and an exercise regime. I started questioning what all of my work was for, and who I was really doing it for. That’s how Body of Work was born: a struggle between taking care of myself versus bending to the ways of the world and wanting to fit in.

Writing the songs opened me up to deeper themes of wanting to please others — lovers, friends, and the male gaze. I realised so much of my energy was directed outward, and that I had never really reconciled things internally. The EP is really about that journey, travelling to the deepest depths of the psyche, recognising my self-defeating patterns, and reconciling my pain. It’s about trying to find my ground, and reclaiming the body, both physically and metaphorically, in terms of where I put my energy.

Writing Body of Work also made me think about generational silence and the women in my family who never had the space or privilege to speak about their inner lives. It had always been about survival, about getting on with things. Being able to document my own life, my feelings, felt like something I owed to them and to myself.”