Electronic Soul Music: Malia, Boris Blank - Convergence
The album Convergence by Malia & Boris Blank was released by Boutique. This collaborative project brings together the unique talents of Malia, a renowned jazz vocalist, and Boris Blank, a skilled electronic music producer. The result is a mesmerizing blend of jazz and electronic sounds that create a truly innovative and captivating listening experience.
Malia has recorded her new album with the Swiss producer Boris Blank. The title "Convergence" is translated as "confluence" or "approach". And this is precisely what is happening on this album in several respects: In order to bring together the different ideas of these two artists, the interaction of Blank's electronic sounds and Malia's organic voice, the approach of the soulful jazz singer to the electro scene, where Boris Blank Duo Yello has been a leader for many years and has made a name for himself as a bold pioneer of sampling.
The eleven songs of this intense album are about life and survival. They are hymns full of tragic moments and dramatic insights, they tell of ghosts, prostitution, slavery, illness, Spirituality and, of course, love. The cool groovy Rhythm'n'Blues number "I Feel It Like You" sounds as if it had been written for a James Bond film. Connoisseur is obviously reminded of Yello's collaboration with the great Shirley Bassey.
"Convergence" is the first album by Boris Blank outside the Yello
Album: Malia, Boris Blank - Convergence
Label: EmArcy – 374 593-2
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 24 Jan 2014
Genre: Electronic, Jazz
Style: Future Jazz
Year: 2014
Tracklist:
Side A:
Celestial Echo 4:09
Embraceable Moon 4:10
I Feel It Like You 3:40
Touching Ghosts 3:21
Claire Cadillac 3:12
Raising Venus 4:40
Side B:
Fever 3:28
Smouldering Ashes 3:56
Magnetic Lies 4:01
Tears Run Dry 3:42
Turner's Ship 6:42
Composed By [Music Composed By], Arranged By, Producer – Boris Blank
Vocals, Lyrics By, Written-By [Vocal Melodies] – Malia
Written-By – Boris Blank (tracks: A1 to A6, B2 to B5), Eddie J. Cooley* (tracks: B1), John Davenport (tracks: B1), Malia (tracks: A1 to A6, B2 to B5)
Mastered By Ursli Weber
Trombone - Michael Flury (tracks: B4)
Record Company – Universal Music Group
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Malia
Licensed To – Universal Music International / Jazz
Copyright © – Universal Music International / Jazz
Produced At – Yello Studio
Mastered At – Powerplay Studios
Lacquer Cut At – Centraldubs
Swiss electronic musician Boris Blank, one half of the legendary techno duo Yello, teams up with Malawi-born jazz singer Malia on this 2014 recording of electronic soul music.
"The production values are, predictably, top-notch; if Blank has learned anything in his decades of music-making, it's how to create atmosphere and there's plenty to spare on Convergence. There's an out-of-time quality to the eleven tracks here, the same mysterious sort of implacable elegance one might find in the heavenly bodies that emerges from the opening sway of 'Celestial Echo' and into 'Embraceable Moon''s fragile skitteriness. It's easy to see why the two artists felt like a collaboration would be a good fit. Malia's vocals have just enough roughness to wear Blank's compositions comfortably and confidently, whether she's wrenching the heart on 'Turner's Ship', themed around Joseph Mallord William Turner's famed 'The Slave Ship', or healing it with the supernatural sultriness of 'Touching Ghosts'. If you're looking for an album packed front-to-back with some of the most stirring electro-jazz compositions you'll find outside of a Twin Peaks soundtrack, or you just can't wait for that next new Yello album, Convergence will be soundtracking your nights and days for some time." - Electronic Beats
"Convergence is brimming with snapshots that are made for eternity. As modern as timeless, this electronic soul music has the potential to make you deeply happy." - Jazz Echo
"Malia and Boris Blank create a surprisingly harmonious work full of sensuality and the subdued elegance of a martini. Their songs tell stories of bondage, disappointment, spirituality, humiliation, lust and love. Their music combines jazz and electronics into a sophisticated conglomerate. A stroke of luck for us, that these two artists, so far apart, found each other for 'Convergence'." - Laut.de
"Convergence is one of the most sensual and elegant albums we have heard in a long time. Its almost timeless aesthetics avoid clichés mostly associated with electronic soul music and seamlessly bring together two artists with a unique approach to their work – but most important of all: it's got soul and sensuality, both in a very elegant and airy way but still has enough artistic weight to carry the promise of becoming a long term companion." - BlankTON
2014 Malia, Boris Blank - Convergence
