We previously featured Melanie Georgiou for taking us on a genre-expansive and dimensional trip with her mantra-esque single, Paralyzed, so when we found out that Melanie was back with Ancient Voices, we were curious to say the least, and couldn’t wait to listen and share our experience.
Ancient Voices opens with an intricate microtonal guitar soundscape with alaap-style ad-lib vocalizations as Melanie sings, “I’ve memorised, I’ve fantasised, stars align this time, the tangled beat surrounds my feet, I’ll meet you in my mind…”. Accompanied by sublime stings arrangement and textured Indian percussion, the track expands with beautiful Sanskrit chants from Prem Murti.
We appreciate the intricate piano melodies and the philosophical and spiritual journey that Melanie and Prem take us on with deep intentionality. There is a wonderfully meditative quality to the composition as contemporary British pop meets the ancient resonance of Sanskrit to create an otherworldly and deeply grounded sentiment.
In essence, Ancient Voices is about connection beyond geography, language and conventional boundaries. Melanie’s collaboration with Prem Murti is particularly fascinating because the pair have never actually met or even spoken to one another. Living in London and India respectively, they created the track by exchanging ideas, recordings and music files through WhatsApp, proving that creativity can establish an intimate connection even when two artists are separated by thousands of miles.
Melanie intelligently explains, “When music and creativity bring people together, language and which part of the globe you are on becomes irrelevant.” There is something beautifully poetic about Ancient Voices being created in this way, really bringing to life the concept of oneness.
We could imagine the mystical soundscape accompanying a film like Dune, The Green Knight or Avatar. It could also work beautifully within the meditative, surreal worlds of The White Lotus or Nine Perfect Strangers. There is also something refreshingly adventurous about Melanie stepping away from her previous solo approach. Having traditionally written and produced music alone, Ancient Voices represents her first collaboration and opens the door to a much more global creative journey.
Needless to say, we continue to be intrigued by what Melanie Georgiou creates, and Ancient Voices feels like a beautiful new chapter in her evolving artistic universe. We have added the track to our New Music Spotlight playlist and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we continue to stream her ever-growing discography and eagerly anticipate where this fascinating global collaboration takes her next.