The Ukrainian jewelry brand à propos has released the ‘audiovisual’ collection ‘Sinner’s Pray’ — a collaborative project with composer and electronic musician Olena Shykina, the author of the score for the dance performance ‘Kosachka’. Olena wrote five compositions, uniting them in the EP ‘Sinner’s Pray’, while à propos created jewelry for each track. The EP’s mixing and mastering were handled by Ukrainian producer Native Outsider.
The face and muse of the new drop’s campaign is actor Vitalii Azhnov
More about the collection
‘Sinner’s Pray’ explores the mythology of Christianity — ‘one of the most powerful and aesthetically rich systems of imagery that has shaped our perception of sin, temptation, and faith’. The à propos team notes that the prayer mentioned in the drop’s title is the prayer of a person ‘who acknowledges their weaknesses and passions but is not ashamed of them’: ‘It is not the prayer of a saint, but the prayer of a living human being, filled with love, desire, and the search for harmony’.
With its new collection, à propos sought not to literally quote religious symbols, but to ‘reflect on the mythology that has grown around them’. The brand worked with archetypes — the serpent-tempter, angels, the crown of thorns, tears, blood, the heart, pain — visual codes that ‘for centuries have reflected human passion, suffering, and hope’. à propos ‘consciously’ avoided icons and crosses as ‘too fragile and untouchable images’.
In the promo video for the collection, Azhnov reads Ivan Franko’s poem ‘Chomu ne smiieshsia nikoly…’ (Why Do You Never Laugh…). The à propos team chose this piece of poetry ‘as a reflection of inner sorrow and fragility that resonates with the theme of sin in the collection’.
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The ‘Sinner’s Pray’ drop includes rosaries, ear cuffs, single earrings, rings, and pendants.
About Olena Shykina’s album
The EP ‘Sinner’s Pray’ is five mythological stories that explore human contradictions:
— ‘Hymn of Angels’ is built on recordings of European church bells, which are rhythmically combined with modern electronics and choral parts.
— ‘Morning Star’ begins with the song of a whale — an allusion to medieval texts where the jaws of sea monsters symbolized the gates of hell. The polyphonic whisper and sounds of prayer refer to Alexandre Cabanel’s painting ‘The Fallen Angel’.
— ‘Beast’ is a track about confronting one’s hidden desires, the fight against an inner beast and instincts, and the pull toward purity and light. It’s a prayer against a backdrop of a harsh metallic sound — whether it’s the gnashing of the beast’s jaws or the clash of a sword in battle.
— ‘Devil’s Dance’ is a layering of sounds that reflects the chaotic dance of the devil, a ball of evil forces. It’s an expressive track in which bells, organ, and electronic music merge to create the atmosphere of a dark ritual.
— ‘The Serpent’s Gift’ is the album’s outro, which conveys the physical sensation of a creeping snake against an electronic soundscape. It’s an anxious motif of seduction and danger, of temptation and the imminent fall into sin.
You can view the collection in more detail and purchase it on the à propos website.
