„Sauna?“ 
„Yeah. Sauna.“
 
Since Leyya (Marco Kleebauer and Sophie Lindinger) decided on a name for their album, this dialogue keeps coming. Not that they are huge fans of regular sweating in a big wooden box. Sauna, to them, is rather a symbol for getting together without any social barriers or classes, where nakedness also brings a certain equality. It could also be viewed as a melting pot - in every sense of the word. And what more brings all of this together but the gigantic rainbow on the albums artwork: Colourful, diverse and meaningful – that’s something that Leyya want you to see and hear in their music, too. „Sauna“, they say, „is the record where you can actually hear the colours.“
 
They keep the theme in their titles („Heat“); and in a way you can hear the beat sweating in songs like „Oh Wow“. And while „Sauna“ features a lot of weird noises, nerdy beats, unusual use of instruments and a certain quirkiness, it doesn’t fail in screaming „Pop!“ in bold, futuristic letters.
 
Leyya proved to prefer thinking and working off the beaten track ever since they appeared on the scene in 2015 with their song „Superego“. Be it the irresistible beat of „Butter“ (2016), the light and happy sounding „Zoo“ (2017) or a slow-motioned reggae rhythm („Oh Wow“) – this band wants to surprise you with every new song.
„Superego“ went on to get several million plays on Spotify, get Radio Airplay across the globe and become an often licensed track for TV shows and commercials. In 2017 the duo received the prestigious Amadeus Austrian Music Award and impressed audiences at reknowned festivals - Primavera, Iceland Airwaves, Reeperbahn Festival, Sziget – to name just a few.
 
You see, pressure was somewhat getting high for „Sauna“. Yet, Leyya somehow managed to keep up with it by simply „staying naive“, as they say, „it drives innovation. And we don’t want to repeat ourselves – ever.“ It doesn’t sound like a big secret after all. After the era of Indie Rock in the 00s and the time of DJs and producers afterwards, Leyya also found it was about time to „reinvent band“. Being multi-instrumentalists themselves and growing into a quartet on stage for their live performances, they do just that – by simply playing around, as if samples, newly found sounds or vintage guitars would be toys they just got for Christmas. Here you go again, rainbow.
 
„For Sauna, we basically followed our most stupid ideas more consequently.“ they insist – it’s not just the message that sounds positively different and surprising. And this might exactly be what the oh so glamorous, but standardized-to-death pop-world needs more than ever: Something different, something surprising. Well: Voilà.