Ephemeral Beauty
A playlist inspired by Butterfly by Anna Sofia Nord, a pianist and composer based in Örebro, Sweden, celebrating the colourful and ephemeral beauty of Nature's temporary wonders, across four musical zones.
Rock & Pop (The Cure to Elton John), Dance Floor (Crazy Town to Travis Scott), Chill Zone (Lara Fabian to Lana Del Ray) and Wind Down (Anna Sofia Nord to Barry Gibb, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings).
Flying Over Flowers
Of her music Anna Sofia says: "I have played the piano since early childhood. I come from a musical family so music has always been around. One of my earliest memories is sitting in front of our old family piano together with my mom and sister picking out melodies.
Music has always been a way for me to express emotions/feelings. Words are harder, that is why most of my compositions are instrumental. I have always played the piano so I guess composing and improvising is a natural progress.
Butterfly started with a musical idea that turned into the intro figure. I thought that sounded a bit like butterflies flying over flowers and the piece evolved from there. I often have a musical idea that turns into different sections. Titles often come second and describe or sum up the feeling I have/get when playing the piece."
Four Zones
Rock & Pop: The unnerving high piano keys twinkle of The Cure's The Caterpillar opens the playlist unsettlingly. Followed by The Jam on solid form with their lesser-known The Butterfly Collector. Kacey Musgraves jaunty country music vocals soften the vibe, while Benjamin Biolay's Papillon Noir (Black Butterfly) French Rock restores the edge. The zone ends with Elton John's masterfully honest account of his own near-demise, saved by his friend Sugar Bear in Someone Saved My Life Tonight.
Dance Floor builds gently with Crazy Town's Butterfly and the ensemble Ain't It Different by Headie One featuring AJ Tracey and Stormzy with typically humble-but-strong lyrics. Squire, Starving Yet Full give you Papillon an 8-minute trance track to get lost in, while Rockstroh and Sean Finn give you the image of Butterflies (Schmeterlinge) flying all night as you dance away. The next 3-tracks will give you a thorough dance workout but for The Hub the repeat play is Danny Darko and Jova Radevska's club mix Like A Butterfly beats and husky voice combo.
Chill Zone starts with Lara Fabian's dreamy Papillon with thoughts of being a butterfly for one day to fly high and appreciate the earth's beauty. The tracks here span the broadest range of styles from Mandarin vocals on Yu Shuquin's Butterflies Flying Back and Forth and Jocelyn Pook's backward singing on Butterfly Song. Lana del Ray effortlessly enchants with the warmth of her voice while unnerving with her serial-killer entangled vocals.
Anna Sofia Nord starts the Wind Down by scattering a cluster of butterflies with a cascade of her piano strokes. Redi Hasa and the Balanescu Quartet give us an aural progression from the solo piano, piano and cello and quartet towards the ensemble complexity of orchestra sound. The Bee Gees end the playlist on a note of yesteryear harmonic nostalgia.
Playlist
You can listen to the Butterfly playlist by clicking on the link below.