Beauty and brokenness don't have to contradict each other. Dreams can grind against reality. Trip-hop duo BLOOM ILLUSION (comprised of Mariska Kalma and Joas Folkertsma) make music that dares to dream without shutting out life. It is emotion trapped in a living painting. After their first forays into the music scene with the singles 'In The Right Moment' and 'Chasing Butterflies', BLOOM ILLUSION now has released the EP 'Room of Sadness'

The trip-hop and lounge music of BLOOM ILLUSION is a dreamy interplay of beats and synths, carried along by Mariska Kalma's vocals. Most of the material on the new EP came from her own experiences. While the music merges melancholy and desire and is a definite treat for fans of Massive Attack, Hooverphonic and London Grammar, the lyrics don't shy away from the darker side of life.

Says Kalma: 'We feel it's important to have a place in music for that; to have that be O.K. No matter how nice something seems on the surface, it can conceal a lot of pain and sadness. It's a tension that, in itself, allows something beautiful to bloom. These are songs that connect with something everybody has experienced or felt at some point. We like to paint a musical picture that allows you to dream, but in the meantime is honest about what you're going through. If this music can be that to people, that would be wonderful.'