Lyyti has released “Monumentti”, a single that marks the beginning of her collaboration with record label Lördag and places questions of permanence, hope, and artistic legacy at the center. For the Finnish artist, whose real name is Lydia Lehtola, the song signifies both a musical course change and a return to an image already of great significance in her work: the seed as an expression of faith in the future.
The recording has a tangible link to her concert “Uuden ajan siemenet” at Musikhuset in Helsinki. The single features the concert hall’s organ along with the Sibelius Upper Secondary School girls’ choir, who will also participate in the concert. These shared musical elements tie the single to the stage project, making their connection part of the music itself rather than just how they are presented.
A sheet music book is also planned in connection with the concert. Working on both projects has led Lyyti to reflect on her own musical legacy: what she has already contributed to the world and what she can still create. With four albums released, she approaches the question with an established body of work behind her, while presenting “Monumentti” as a point of departure rather than a retrospective conclusion.
Creating for a Future Beyond the Present
In her description of the single, Lyyti expresses a concern for what our time will leave behind. Her thoughts encompass environments, everyday objects, buildings, and art, linking their permanence to a broader desire to believe in the future. She sees short-term thinking as a destructive circle: when faith in what lies ahead diminishes, the drive to maximize immediate returns grows. That, in turn, undermines the willingness to create things that will last over time.
This reasoning gives the song’s title particular significance. Read in the context of her description, “Monumentti” portrays permanence not just as a matter of size or magnificence, but of intent. Creating something for the future requires viewing that future as meaningful. The line of thought thus concerns the values behind creation as much as the objects or artworks that endure.
The seed offers a counterpoint to the short-term perspective. In Lyyti’s description, it embodies hope, as its existence is directed toward what comes next. The journey through dark soil toward the light becomes a symbol of perseverance and trust. Instead of offering an escape from difficult circumstances, this image locates possibility in the very effort to get through them.
Lyyti describes “Monumentti” as a transition between musical phases. The new direction does not mean she is abandoning the issues that have characterized her previous songwriting. Instead, she places a familiar theme in a different musical framework. The organ and choir are the most explicitly stated connections in the recording to the Musikhuset project, bringing the concert’s participants and environment into the single itself.
The accompanying sheet music book adds yet another dimension to the theme of continuity. A recording preserves a specific performance, while notation makes it possible for others to play the songs anew. In light of Lyyti’s thoughts on what an artist leaves behind, the book ties the idea of an artistic legacy to the practical act of making music accessible for new interpretations.
Together, the single, concert, and book place creation and preservation side by side. “Monumentti” begins the collaboration with Lördag with a message of change, but also of passing something on. Its central image suggests that a new phase does not have to break connection with prior works: it can grow from the same fundamental conviction that making music is an investment in a future beyond the immediate present.
