Illustration by Jovanna Olivares
Ever since I’ve returned to in-person classes, I’ve wanted to escape everyday life’s mundanity.
I was able to go on fantastical adventures through music. I traveled to a mystical land through Arooj Aftab’s “Vulture Prince,” wandered through Madi Diaz’s mind to experience raw emotions and flew to the moon in Dispirited Spirits’ debut album.
With genres ranging from folk to R&B to acoustic sounds, these artists allowed me to feel a life different than my own. Sometimes, all we need to do is escape and I hope these songs will do that for you.
Arooj Aftab’s “Vulture Prince”
The folk and classical album begins with the haunting song “Baghon Mein,” a striking introduction to the rest of the album.
It features breathtaking orchestral arrangements complete with violins, harps and piano. The song is six minutes and Aftab sings for less than half the song.
She invokes the heavy emotions associated with the lyrics but the instrumentation brings light and hope.
Aftab is a Pakistani-American singer whose 2014 album “Bird Under Water” gained widespread acclaim.
The most gorgeous song on the album is “Mohabbat,” which stands for love in Urdu, a centuries-old language, and the words carry an immense history.
Mohabbat begins with sparse harps and guitars while Aftab’s vocals dance over the minimalistic production. Her voice is light and breezy, drawing the focus solely on her vocals.
The song is a cover of a popular ghazal or ballad sung by Mehdi Hassan, a Pakistani singer known as the “King of Ghazals.”Aftab brings the poetic beauty of that ancient music to mainstream audiences with Vulture Prince.
Although this album relies less on Pakistani instrumentation, she covers many ghazals and almost all of the songs are in Urdu.
The songs transport you to a mystical land filled with light and hope. When the album ends, you’re brought back to Earth but somehow everything appears to be slightly brighter.
Madi Diaz’s “History of a Feeling”
There is no lack of singer-songwriters in the modern musical landscape but Madi Diaz is able to invoke very particular emotions in her alternative and indie music.
She sings about the feeling of holding yourself back from arguing or fighting with someone you loved. It’s a very particular emotion that can be hard to explain but with a simple guitar melody, Diaz conveys it precisely.
She sings, “I want to rage to erase everything and I am not afraid.”
“Rage” is a short and sweet song but it is a perfect introduction to an album where Diaz embarks on a journey to try and illustrate unexplainable, complex human emotions.
Diaz is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who first started releasing music in 2008 while she was attending Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
“History of a Feeling” is her fourth album and is largely self-produced.
In “Crying in Public,” she sings about those relatable moments when you can’t hold back your tears in a public place. You try your best to hold it in but you can’t control the unbearable sadness.
She holds sustained notes, mirroring the sounds that come when you finally get to sob openly after holding it in for so long.
When the note ends, it feels as though a weight has been lifted from our hearts.
Scarypoolparty’s “The Act of Forgiveness”
You may remember Alejandro Aranda from 2019’s American Idol TV season.
Aranda auditioned with his original song “Out Loud” where his exceptional guitar picking shocked the judges. His breathy voice wasn’t necessarily where his talent resided but rather it was in his musicianship.
Aranda’s ability to curate complex orchestral arrangements complete with his complicated guitar playing is what made him a frontrunner in the talent competition.
Scarypoolparty, a stage name he adopted after American Idol, first garnered praise for his decision to perform only original music on the popular talent competition.
Songs including “Cholo Love” and “Tonight” made him a fan favorite.
Although Aranda didn’t win, he went on to perform on Jimmy Kimmel’s live TV show shortly after and he released his first alternative/indie album “Exit Form” in 2019, which featured Out Loud.
On his second album, “The Act of Forgiveness,” he creates stunning arrangements that contribute to the poetic qualities of his lyrics. In “Poison,” he sings about how he is unable to forget his memories from a past relationship.
Under a complex strumming pattern, Aranda sings softly. The pre-chorus has intense violins in the background as he approaches the chorus.
In his audition on American idol, Aranda cited Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and the talented composer Chopin. On each song, you can hear those influences as he combines complex guitar playing with breathtaking orchestral arrangements.
Aranda is soft spoken but his stunning melodies speak for him. His gentle pianos, intense violins and distinct guitar playing put you in his head where you can witness his genius.
Noga Erez’s “KIDS”
There’s only one way to describe Noga Erez’s KIDS: badass. Her production is slick as she mixes jazz, R&B, hip-hop and electronic music.
Erez is an Israeli-based artist who released her first album “Off the Radar” in 2017. Erez didn’t garner much attention until she released KIDS, which is no doubt her most cleanly-produced record.
In “Bark Loud,” she sings about how she and her friends “knew every part of the sewage. Me and the roaches approaching down from the hold.” She plays on the fear that adults have of kids.
The outcast youth are here to stay and are “barking loud” to finally be heard.
Erez isn’t afraid to be political and her hard-hitting production complements that. An empty drum beat is accompanied by strange whistle sounds, shouting and yelling in the background.
Above all, Erez sings with an edge that feels as though she is breaking through wooden doors to confront the very adults that have belittled her.
While Bark Loud’s production is more R&B focused, there are several songs on the album that show Erez’s versatility.
“NO news on TV” takes a more melodic-pop approach that has a jazz-swing touch to it.
The track moves as she sings about wanting to wake up to no news and refusing to check her phone to escape the chaos on TV.
A bunch of child-like voices sing “come out, play with your enemies” during the bridge, referencing adults who act like children when they decide to go to war with other countries.
Erez takes a popular children’s phrase, “come out and play” and compares it to countries going to war.
She’s fearless. Erez isn’t scared of what others think of her and she inspires kids everywhere to grab their headphones and angrily walk toward the revolution.
Dispirited Spirit’s “Fragments of a Dying Star”
The rock/alternative album sounds as if you’re sitting in a spaceship ready to blast off to space.
Along the way, you see Earth become smaller as you enter the solar system. The sun shines brightly in the distance and the planets are closer than ever before.
Indigo Dias, also known as Dispirited Spirits, is a young Portuguese musician who’s fascinated by the universe.
Dias’ debut album, Fragments of a Dying Star, is an exploration of existence, of humanity within the universe as well as in his life.
It features distorted vocals, lush guitars and excerpts from real-life space exploration.
In “Negatives of the Moon (On a moonless night),” alternative guitars are paired with glittering sound effects. The song includes a speech about Apollo 17, “Houston, before we close out our EVA, we understand that there are . . . young people from countries all over the world . . . They had the opportunity to watch the launch of Apollo 17 . . . Probably one of the most significant things we can think about when we think about Apollo is that it has opened for us.”
Throughout the album, there are many more references to outer space. In “Light Years Away, Pt.1,” he sings “they’re all burning bright and Sirius has come to burn our past.”
Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and he sings about how maybe its brightness can overtake the darkness of our pasts. The track also includes clean guitar riffs and some of the effects seem to resemble the sounds twinkling stars may make in the night sky.
Despite Dias’ stage name, Dispirited Spirits has made a spirited debut with Fragments of a Dying Star. It is otherworldly and will bring you as close to space as you may ever be.