Last Monday, plenty of Eurovision stars celebrated Halloween by dressing up as ghouls, goblins and sexy whatevers.
But Eurovision 2016 winner Jamala decided to celebrate by releasing “Zamanyly” — her haunting collaboration with ethno-chaos folk group DakhaBrakha.
The song, whose titles translates as “Lured”, was born from a six-hour jam session between the singer and the group, which is known for its dark, avant-garde sound.
The Halloween release date was apt.
The mysterious, other-worldy song opens with animals howling before Jamala enters with her flawless vocals and daft touch with folk sounds.
Jamala, who wrote the lyrics, presents a series of contradictions in the chorus, which hint at standing up for what’s right: “If it becomes difficult, you don’t need to shout, If you know the truth, you shouldn’t be silent.”
Writing on her official page on the social networking site VK.com, Jamala said:
“‘DakhaBrakha’ added a fragment to the melody of a rare folk song ‘Na dobranich, Galju’, which can be attributed to the mystical folklore, since it includes Ukrainian mythological characters. There are a lot of symbols in the song, but at the same time, it is about today. Since man is always between darkness and light.”
There is also a second version of the song available online and below.
DakhaBrakha is difficult to encapsulate in a few words, but this is how the group describes itself on its official web site.
DakhaBrakha – is world-music quartet from Kyiv, Ukraine. Reflecting fundamental elements of sound and soul, Ukrainian “ethnic chaos” band DakhaBrakha, create a world of unexpected new music. The name DakhaBrakha is original, outstanding and authentic at the same time. It means “give/take” in the old Ukrainian language.
DakhaBrakha was created in 2004 at the Kyiv Center of Contemporary Art “DAKH” by the avant-garde theatre director – Vladyslav Troitskyi. Theatre work has left its mark on the band performances – their shows have never been staged without the scenic effects.
Having experimented with Ukrainian folk music, the band has added rhythms of the surrounding world into their music, thus creating bright, unique and unforgettable image of DakhaBrakha. It will help to open up the potential of Ukrainian melodies and to bring it to the hearts and consciousness of the younger generation in Ukraine and the rest of the world as well.
What’s up, Jamala?
The “1944” singer has been very busy. Not so long ago Jamala announced that her song “Obeshchaniye” (Promise) will appear on the soundtrack to the Ukrainian blockbuster “My Grandmother Fanny Kaplan”.
And on Wednesday she announced her engagement to economist and mathematician Bekir Suleimanov — who she says encouraged her to enter Ukraine’s national selection for Eurovision 2016.
There’s more. She’s already filming auditions for the new season of The Voice of Ukraine, which will premiere next year.
Good for her! When is she collaborating with her kin in Raqqa? That would be heavenly 😛
Such a great collaboration!
Amazing woman and deserving winner of Eurovision 2016! Wish her all the best in her future married life!