THE VOICES AND BRIDGES | I CARE IF YOU LISTEN

“An ambitious affair, The Voices and Bridges (released July 16, 2021 on Bright Shiny Things), is an eclectic set of tracks unified in purpose. With music composed by Ehsan Matoori and lead vocals by Alireza Ghorbani, the album is a collection of pieces in a multitude of languages (Persian, Spanish, Arabic, English, Turkish, Urdu, Kashmiri and French). In each piece, Ghorbani’s Farsi (Persian) is intermingled with another language, sung by one of the featured vocalists. While each of the tracks display influence from their associated culture, they are all unmistakably projected through the lens of Matoori’s vividly rhythmic and melodic approach to writing.

The impressive vocal cast includes singers from many different traditions underpinned with the through line of Ghorbani’s emotive Farsi singing. The guest vocalists heighten the language changes of each track as the singing styles change dramatically with them. Each vocalist’s performance is powerful, with an immense variety of expression. The ensembles are likewise extremely colorful, featuring a mix of Western instruments and instruments native to the cultures of the languages used, further aiding in the timbral breadth of the album. The recording and mixing of the music feel close, with the percussion especially having an immediacy of presence and clarity that heightens the rhythmically engaging music.”