Heal your soul with Marie April, Discovery of the Year

Marie April is a young emerging artist who has already managed to capture the attention of both the wider public and professional juries, winning this year’s Discovery of the Year category at the Anděl Music Awards. That is why we decided to dedicate today’s Sunday Music Show to her and her music.

In January 2024, Marie April founded the six-member band “Marie April & The Fools,” which blends jazz, soul, rock, and indie in a distinctive, genre-fluid style. In a short time, the band has established a strong presence on Prague’s underground scene and has appeared at a number of domestic and international festivals, captivating audiences with its energy, authenticity, and strong on-stage chemistry.

In May 2025, Marie released her debut album Tangerines – an intimate and raw reflection on coming of age, loss, grief, and the search for identity. Thanks to its openness, lyrical depth, and distinctive musical production, the album received strong acclaim from both critics and listeners and earned Marie April the Anděl Music Award in the Discovery of the Year category.

Singer Marie April does not trace her musical beginnings to a single defining moment on stage, but rather to a childhood curiosity that started in a school music room. As a small child, she often accompanied her father to a local art school in Prague, where he took guitar lessons. Too young to sit still, she was once given access to a small storage room filled with instruments. Among clarinets and flutes, she chose the violin. The choice led to seven years of violin lessons and an early grounding in music that would later shape her artistic identity.

Music that captures raw emotions of growing up

The musical path of Marie April gradually shifted away from classical training toward soul and rhythm and blues, largely influenced by her father’s broad musical tastes. He encouraged her to explore different genres and introduced her to records that would leave a lasting impression. She learned to sing by listening closely, repeatedly returning to voices such as Nina Simone.

Marie April’s transition into songwriting and recording came only recently, about three years ago. One of her earliest tracks, “heal a soul,” had been developed before she left for England but took significant time to complete, as she tended toward perfectionism and worked painstakingly on every detail.

Her debut album Tangerines emerged from what was initially intended to be an EP. As more songs accumulated, the project naturally expanded into a full-length record. The lyrics, some of which were written years earlier, draw heavily from personal experiences, including childhood memories, adolescence, and family-related emotional struggles.