Warning: this article contains the name of an Aboriginal person who has died. His family have given permission.
The soaring, haunting notes of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu's voice sing out, supported and enhanced by the Prague Metropolitan Orchestra on his new, posthumous album.
On Friday, Banbirrngu - The Orchestral Sessions, was released.
The album is a reworking of some of his most notable pieces from over the years sung almost entirely in his native Yolngu languages.
Gurrumul was raised on Elcho Island, off the coast of North East Arnhem Land, a member of the Gumatj clan.
Born blind, his musical education was largely self-taught and through cultural immersion; he learned drums, keyboards, guitar and yidaki, and his powerful voice has affected the public unlike any other Australian artist.
His songs cover themes of identity, spirit, connection with the land and its elements across multiple Yolngu languages and in Gurrumul History, his own story.
Since his passing in 2017 at the age of 46, he has left behind a profound musical and cultural legacy and the Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation, which he created in 2013, continues to support young Indigenous people, particularly in remote communities.
Over the years his songs, predominantly sung in his native Yolngu languages, have earned multiple ARIA awards and international acclaim for their distinctively ethereal sound.
The latest addition to his collection, Banbirrngu - The Orchestral Sessions, is produced by Michael Hohnen, arranged by Erkki Veltheim and recorded in Prague by the Prague Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Jan Chalupecký.
Hohnen was a close friend of Gurrumul’s, as well as his double bass player and producer.
“Banbirrngu is a python but also a cycle of life," he said.
"And in this case, the new Banbirrngu album is a cycle of Gurrumul’s solo musical life and his early offerings to us."
Hohnen said that revisiting Gurrumul’s voice in Banbirrngu provides a resounding and peaceful antidote to the constant media noise that currently fills almost every moment of our waking lives.
“We hope that his voice and importance has been honoured on this new album as we revisit and re-present, his much-loved, delicate, powerful and enigmatic voice to the wider mainstream world for all to experience," he said.
"There has been no other like Gurrumul, and I doubt there will ever be again.”
These new orchestral recordings reinterpret some of Gurrumul’s most treasured and well-known songs, featuring a wide array of instrumentation from minimalist to lush arrangements.
Throughout his career Gurrumul collaborated with artists from a huge range of genres, from hip hop to classical, and, of course, rock performing with his countrymen as a member of Yothu Yindi.
He was a master of collaboration, working with other world class musicians like Briggs, Sting, Missy Higgins, Delta Goodrem and Paul Kelly.
His experience with orchestras spanned more than ten years, from an early performance at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York to collaborations with most of the symphony orchestras in Australia and performances at the Sydney Opera House.
Hohnen told NITV that they'd been able to revisit some of the songs Gurrumul had performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
"So what hopefully shines through in these new versions is subtlety and delicacy," he said.
"So when you press play, you're listening to that beautiful voice."
