Vendetta is the fourth studio album by Russian singer Zemfira. It was released on 1 March 2005 and became the singer's first release in a solo capacity. Its recording took place throughout 2004 and 2005 in collaboration with Igor Vdovin, Kogney, Vlad Kreymer, Oleg Pungin and Yuri Tsaler. The initial concept was to create an avant-garde electronic recording, but later Zemfira grew tired of working with sound and added many rock compositions to the album, which were recorded in the last two months of work on the record. Initially, the disc was planned to be titled Neft, but a few days before its release, the singer changed the title.
Vendetta became an experimental recording, one part of which consisted of electronic compositions and the other of rock songs. In terms of genre, the disc also includes hard rock, trip hop, Britpop, disco and synth-pop. Zemfira described its sound as eclectic. Thematically, the album was described as very personal, intimate and frank. Zemfira herself described the record as a "period of misunderstanding" during which she "was searching for something".
Vendetta was positively received by most music critics, who called it Zemfira's second "takeoff" after her debut album. Two successful radio hits were released from the record —Nebomoreoblaka and Progulka— which entered the top five of the Russian radio chart. The single Itogi reached 22nd place in the chart.
Vendetta received the "Rekord" award of 2006 and was recognized as the best-selling disc of 2005 in Russia. The sold circulation, according to various sources, amounts to between 250 and 500 thousand copies. In support of the album, Zemfira performed at the "Maksidrom" festival in 2004 and 2005, and also conducted a concert tour in 2005.
Background and recording In 2004, Zemfira worked on the soundtrack for the film by Renata Litvinova titled Goddess: How I Fell in Love. At this time, the singer's collaboration with composer and arranger Igor Vdovin began. The artist herself said that she met Vdovin long before their joint work, during her concerts in Saint Petersburg. The first result of the collaboration was the song "Love as Accidental Death", which was included in the film's soundtrack. Describing how the composition was created, Zemfira noted that she had an ambiguous attitude towards this work: "I became interested in how this is done in principle—when Igor gave the harmony, and I only had to write the melody and lyrics. As a result, I would give him a four plus, and myself—a three. In general, I think Igor works better solo", - Zemfira said. Despite the fact that the first experience of collaboration did not satisfy the singer, Igor was subsequently involved in working on the new album. Zemfira explained that before this, Vdovin gave her to listen to his album Gamma and, impressed by what she heard, she said: "Yes, Igor, as soon as I have a song, I'll bring it to you. Yes, I really want to work with you".
The initial idea was to create an avant-garde electronic record, on which Zemfira would perform more as a guest vocalist, but later this concept was abandoned. In an interview with the newspaper Kommersant, Zemfira spoke about the reasons for changing the concept:All this remained, did not sink into oblivion, those versions of the songs are really not bad, but I do not agree with such an interpretation. From our joint works on the album are those with which both Igor and I agree. We, each separately, are solo performers. And no matter who Igor collaborates with, his own works will be the best. The same I can say about myself.The singer also noted that she was provoked to change the concept by the fact that rock compositions began to appear. One of the catalysts for their appearance was the album A Long Happy Life by the group Grazhdanskaya Oborona, which Zemfira listened to for several weeks. She called Vdovin and explained the situation to him: "I sat down, thought, called Igor and said: here's the story, it pulled me in this direction. It's hard for me to blame myself for this, I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't do it deliberately, it just coincided... Perhaps because we've been working with Igor for a long time, I started to miss it. So I called my rock comrades from Mumiy Troll — and I think we recorded excellently with them". During an online conference on Lenta.ru, Vdovin said that nevertheless he was satisfied with working with Zemfira. "...We worked excellently. Zemfira is extraordinarily talented and musical. As for the arrangements, I don't know, Zemfira just decided it would be that way, after all, it's her creation", - Igor said....I made the master disc four days before the release. Of course, I could have done it even better. But specifically so that I wouldn't have a second or third chance, I set myself a deadline — March 1st. On this record are those first versions of the songs that we managed to make. When I worked on the previous one, it took me two months just to edit individual parts — there, even with a magnifying glass, you won't find a single uneven spot. This time everything was different. Did the musicians play hungover? I leave this take! The task before me was to convey the mood as much as possible. This sloppiness and negligence for me is associated with the word "rock music". I got tired of editing, I wanted to play simply: four people gather in one room, bash it out — and there it is, born out of thin air.The recording of the album continued right up to the last days before the record's release. In addition to Zemfira, Igor Vdovin, Korney, Yuri Tsaler and Oleg Pungin worked on it. Zemfira noted that she allowed herself many experiments and often argued with the publishers about the recording. By her admission, some songs were made specifically in this key so that they would not be taken on the radio. Zemfira also highlighted that on Vendetta her unique melodic style manifested itself. "...I myself have my own melodic style. These are some moves, chemical reactions in the head, personal ideas about melody, they cannot transform. Handwriting, if you will. And one more important point: I left a lot of vocals that I sang at home and refused to re-record in the studio. I want it that way—and I think I have the right to do so. As for the arrangements, everything should be fine with them. On one hand, Igor is a very strong arranger, on the other hand, Mumiy Troll are very proven artists", - she explained.
Nevertheless, the singer said that in the end she did not manage to create a cohesive concept due to the introduction of rock music into the recording: "In general, there was an idea for a conceptual, complete work, absolutely different from what was before, but it turns out I didn't pull it off". A lot of "home" vocals were used in the recording of the record. The singer also noted that most of the songs were recorded in the studio, but she deliberately did not include these versions. The rock compositions were recorded in the last two months of work on the disc.
According to Zemfira, her fatigue from working with electronic sound played a big role in changing the recording. "In the new songs, I managed to get rid of the excess in the arrangements. The record is quite minimalist, there are completely empty textures. Due to a certain fatigue, I wanted to play simple rock songs so that I wouldn't have to correct a lot," the singer said. Zemfira noted that she does not consider herself the producer of the new album. According to her, many songs were simply played the way the singer's musicians play them at concerts, and the sound engineers and the musicians themselves played a big role in the recording.
Negotiations with the label and promotion Before the release, for a month, Zemfira negotiated with labels about purchasing the rights to issue the record. In the end, the singer chose REAL Records. In an interview with Kommersant, Zemfira was reproached for starting to work with a company that is part of a structure "which is now in Russia, together with the First Channel and Russian Media Group, forming today's state ideology". To this, Zemfira replied that there are no labels in Russia that are not tied to ideology. In her opinion:When it came time to profitably place the album, I spent a month in negotiations. Real Records offered the most normal conditions—that's all I know about this company. As for ideology, in this context, everything can now be considered: business, show business, cinema! We started making propaganda films paid for by the state, Personal Number, for example... As an apolitical person, I only think that I made a good deal. We came to an agreement not so much with Real Records as with Konstantin Ernst... I don't know what public opinion says about him, I just know Kostya for six years, and he never asked me for anything that contradicted my principles.In 2004, the promotion of the release began. On May 20, the song Nebomoreoblaka, recorded in a light electronic arrangement and becoming the first single from the album, was placed on radio stations through the Tophit system. The composition became a radio hit, taking second place in the chart compiled by this company, the Airplay Detection Tophit 100 (also known as the Russian radio chart). In June, Zemfira performed it at the "Maksidrom" festival, where she performed jointly with Korney and musicians from the group Mumiy Troll.
The second single released was the song Progulka. Zemfira recounted that she initially brought the song to "Russian Radio". "I brought the song 'Promenade' to 'Russian Radio'... I think I can't write simpler. And they didn't take it, that is, they took it for some 'non-format' time. With the wording 'too fashionable'. I laughed for three minutes. Explanations like: we don't work for Moscow and St. Petersburg—our audience is in the village, in the outback. This is so absurd," the singer said. Despite being called "non-format", the song became the second radio hit, taking fifth place in the Russian radio chart. The music video for the composition was shot by Renata Litvinova already in August 2004, although the song entered rotation in December. The collaboration between the two artists continued as a kind of exchange. After recording the soundtrack, Renata Muratovna inquired about the size of the fee, and Zemfira suggested: "...I don't know how much this can cost, but won't you shoot a clip for me? I'll give you a song, you give me a clip." The singer admitted that she was satisfied with the result. Litvinova also directed the videos for the songs Blues, Samolet, Itogi. For the promotion of the album, two more singles were released: Itogi in a special radio version and Tak i ostavim (We'd leave it this way). Itogi reached 22nd place in the chart, while "So We'll Leave It" reached only 148th.
Starting in 2005, Zemfira undertook a concert tour in support of Vendetta. Even before the release, the singer announced that she did not plan large-scale tours, since she did not have a permanent band lineup and wanted "to stretch the pleasure"; moreover, she did not experience financial difficulties and could "not stoop to chasing because of money".
The tour started on May 10 with a concert in Petrozavodsk. It was notable in that it took place exactly six years after the release of the debut record. "Light, roar, ear-cutting sounds of a megaphone, screams, excitement, the crowd surged to storm the fence, which was not adapted to such an attack," a Fuzz journalist described the beginning of the performance. He compared the singer's movements to the manner of Dave Gahan, and also recounted how, before performing the song Skandal, she appeared with a large pink balloon and declared: "How do you like this? This is my new head." In honor of the recently passed Victory Day, Ramazanova sang the song Dark Night".