On 25 May 2018 the Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices released their first album of new studio recordings in over two decades. In ‘BooCheeMish’ the renowned Bulgarian choir performs together with the former 4AD Records label mate Lisa Gerrard on four tracks, thus uniting two of the most distinctive vocal acts working in music. Gerrard, who is also well known for her movie soundtrack work on films such as ‘Gladiator’ and ‘The Insider’, has often spoken about the influence the choir exerted on her singing technique when she discovered their music in the early 1980’s.
In successfully connecting Bulgarian folklore with other traditions and cultures, the album manages to retain the unique identity of the voices, vocal styles and techniques of the individual choir members, even when allying them with acoustic accompaniment such as string instruments, various types of world percussion and even beatbox.
Once described as ‘the marriage of the avant-garde and the Middle Ages’, the magic of the ensemble stems from its success in mastering Bulgaria’s diverse, age-old vocal traditions while simultaneously sounding strikingly modern and original, thanks to the unique choral music structure – multi-part a cappella arrangements that transform its collective sound into strange colours as if something other than the human voice is being heard.
‘Boocheemish’, which is produced by Schubert Music Publishing, is now available through Prophecy Productions in 5 physical configurations (CD, LP, SACD, limited edition and a boxset) and digitally on all digital platforms.