''Izvor'' (in Macedonian

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

: Извор,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation: ''Spring'') is the ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Macedonian singer

Karolina Gočeva Karolina Gočeva ( mk, Каролина Гочева, ; born 28 April 1980), sometimes credited as Karolina Gocheva or known only as Karolina, is a Macedonian pop singer. Gočeva launched her music career in 1991 with a performance at a local ch ...

released on 23 February 2018. Avalon Production released the album in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

and subsequently, it was made available for streaming on platforms such as

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. In April 2019, the album was also released in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

through

Croatia Records Croatia Records is the largest major record label in Croatia, based in Zagreb ( Dubrava). Summary Croatia Records d.d. is a joint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, a notable sound engineer. It releases ...

, marking the singer's first release in the country. As with her two previous releases, Nikola Micevski and Dejan Momirovski served as the main producers, while Vesna Malinova served as the main songwriter. Musically, the album marks a more pop-oriented shift as opposed to the ethno and Macedonian folk music sound prominent on her previous two releases '' Makedonsko Devojče'' and '' Makedonsko Devojče 2''. The album was well-received by the audience and by several

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. The album was commercially successful in North Macedonia and Croatia, where it managed to peak at number 33 on the Croatian Albums Chart on 13 March 2019. "Dzvona" was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

on 19 December 2017 along with an accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

. "Beli cvetovi" was released as the album's second single on 31 October 2018 along with a music video. Both singles were well-received by the singer's fanbase and the wider audience and have garnered 3.3 million and 1.4 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

as of 2022, respectively. The album was promoted through a seven-concert tour in February and March 2018 at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

. The promotional tour also visited other cities in the country, including

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

Tetovo Tetovo ( mk, Тетово, , sq, Tetovë/Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, w ...

Gostivar Gostivar ( mk, Гостивар , Albanian and Turkish: ''Gostivar''), is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is one of the largest municipalities in the country with a population of 81,042, and the town also ...

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in North Macedonia and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia by population, largest municipali ...

Štip Štip ( mk, Штип ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the city ...

and

Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...

Background and release

In 2014,

released her

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and ethno-oriented album '' Makedonsko Devojče 2''. As the previous album in the project ''Makedonsko Devojče'' the album was very well-received by the

and listeners. The album was also extensively promoted with a

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

tour of concerts, gigs and festival performances in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. After the conclusion of the promotion in 2016, the singer started working on a new studio album. The

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

for the album and its title were revealed on the singer's

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account several days before its release in February 2018. It shows a portrait of Gočeva painted by her husband, Mihail Korubin who is also a professional artist. The album consists of eleven songs, nine of which were written by Vesna Malinova and one by Vesna "Bejbi" Petrushevska. All songs were recorded, mixed and

mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

at XL Studio in

. Nikola Micevski and Dejan Momirovski served as producers for all songs. ''Izvor'' was released in North Macedonia on 23 February 2018 through Avalon Production. It was also made available for digital downloading and streaming through platforms such as

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and

. In April 2019, the album was also released in Croatia through the record label

, marking the singer's first album to be released in the country.

Music and lyrics

During an interview, Gocheva said that while the album was representative of a similar stage of her life as the two albums of the ''Makedonsko Devojče'' project, it marked a change in sound, being closer to the pop genre as opposed to the more ethno sound of the previous projects. As she worked with the same producers and songwriters, the songs share the same arrangements. She also revealed that due to the expectations from the audience following the success of the ''Makedonsko Devojče'' projects, the singer and her collaborators felt burdened to do it justice. Nevertheless, after the finalization of the project, she felt that ''Izvor'' marked a step forward in her career and a sound she identifies herself the most with. "Dzvona", released around the date of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

and

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

, is holiday-themed and features an all-female choir. It is a "nostalgic" track that commemorates certain people who are "present in our hearts but are not present in our lives". "Budna", the last song on the album's track listing, is an emotional

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

Promotion

Singles

"Dzvona" was released as the album's first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on 19 December 2017. It was released on the singer's official

channel along with an accompanying

directed by Ognen Shapkovski. The video shows Gocheva, accompanied by an all-female children choir singing the lyrics of the song. All of the songs were released on YouTube on the day of the album's release. "Beli cvetovi" was released as the album's second single. A music video directed by Chedo Popovski was filmed in

and premiered on 31 October 2018. The video shows the singer walking, running and biking through a city while singing the lyrics of the song.

Tour

Starting on 24 February 2018, the first concert out of seven in total, in promotion of the album took place at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet (MOB) in

. The set list of the two and a half hour-long concert consisted of two parts - the first half consisted only of songs from the album ''Izvor'' while the second included songs of her previous projects as well. The concert was well-received by the public and Milica Džarovska of the female magazine ''Ženski magazin'' who praised the emotional vocal rendition and the warm atmosphere. Other concerts in promotion of the album took place on 25 and 26 February and 1-3 March. With this feat, the singer broke her previously held streak of five consecutive concerts in promotion of the album ''Makedonsko Devojče 2''. In early March 2018, she held four more concerts accompanied at the Macedonian Philharmonic accompanied by the philharmonic orchestra as well as one concert accompanied by her ten-member band at the

Biljanini Izvori Sports Hall The Biljanini Izvori Sports Hall ( mk, Спортска сала Билјанини Извори, transliterated ''Sportska sala Biljanini Izvori'') is a multi-functional indoor sports arena. It is located in Ohrid, North Macedonia. The sports hal ...

. On 27 and 28 March, she also held two concerts at the Culture Center in

. From April to May, the singer also gave concerts in

and

Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...

. On 10 And 11 August 2018, Gočeva held two more open concert at the

Heraclea Lyncestis Heraclea Lyncestis, also transliterated Herakleia Lynkestis ( grc, Ἡράκλεια Λυγκηστίς; la, Heraclea Lyncestis; mk, Хераклеја Линкестис), was an ancient Greek city in Macedon, ruled later by the Romans. Its ...

theater in Ohrid. After the promotion of the album concluded, many songs from ''Izvor'' continued being performed during the singer's live performances.

Critical and commercial reception

A writer for the Croatian website Glazbeni.info praised the singer's vocals and called the album a "brilliant" pop record with swing, jazz and etno elements. Džarovska from ''Ženski magazin'' felt that the songs on the album presented a "warm and a musically rich, mature story". "Ti ne dojde" received the award for Etno/World Music Song of the Year at the 2019 Music Awards Ceremony held in Belgrade where the singer also performed it. ''Izvor'' charted in Croatia following its release. For the week ending 13 March 2019, the album debuted and peaked at number 33 on the Croatian Albums Chart. The following three consecutive weeks, the album charted at positions 36, 37 and 35 before falling off the chart for the week ending 3 June 2019, having spent a total of four weeks on the chart.Chart positions for ''Izvor'' on the Croatian Albums Chart for weeks 21-24: * * *

Track listing

*All songs produced by Nikola Micevski and Dejan Momirovski for XL Studio Productions.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of ''Izvor''. *Nikola Micevski –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

*Ljupka Arsovska – backing vocals *Makedonka Petreska – backing vocals *Helena Susha – backing vocals *Blagojche Trajkovski –

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

*Emilija Kjiproska – design *Kiril Kuzmanov –

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

*Damjan Pejchinoski – guitar *Zoran Kostadinovski – guitar *Timko Chichakovski - qanun *Goce Domovski -

kaval The kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and Anatolia (including Turkey and Armenia). The ka ...

*Vesna Malinova Babamova - lyrics *Vesna Petrushevska Bejbi - lyrics *Nikolchee Micevski – music,

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, programming,

music production A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Mihail Korubin – painting *Dejan Momirovski – producer *Zlatko Miladinovski -

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

*Dzhambo Agushev –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Vladimir Kostov –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

*Vladimir Krstev – violin *Jasmina Dragomanska – violin *Branislav Avtovski – violin *Maja Efremova – violin *Kiril Josifov -

violoncello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...

Charts

References

External links

Playlist on Gocheva's YouTube channel
with all of the album's songs {{Authority control 2018 albums Karolina Gočeva albums Macedonian-language albums