VOCES8 | News | World leading choral ensemble VOCES8 announce mesmerising new album 'Infinity'

Following a string of globally successful virtual festivals, revered vocal group VOCES8 announces brand new album Infinity, released on 27th August on Decca Classics. This new collection of meditative and otherworldly choral recordings transcends genres and features six brand-new compositions interspersed with eight newly arranged covers from renowned composers.

In this space-inspired concept album, VOCES8 leads listeners on an introspective journey beyond our world, inviting them to escape for an hour of contemplative and calming music. The sublime blended voices of VOCES8 are intermingled with ethereal strings, harp, bowed vibraphones and, in one of the new compositions, a sample of the Sputnik satellite.

The first single from the album, Scene Suspended, is a beautiful reworking of celebrated classically trained electronic artist and producer Jon Hopkins’ 2020 composition. Hopkins has produced and contributed to albums by Brian Eno, Coldplay, Imogen Heap and many more. The single has been arranged for wordless voices and harp by composer and orchestrator Geoff Lawson, whose credits include Maleficent, Black Panther, Thor Ragnarok. Listen to the new track HERE.

Alongside Scene Suspended, Infinity features eight diverse new choral arrangements with highlights including a spine-tingling recording of Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson’s composition Heyr himna smiður, a contemporary setting of a popular 13th-century Icelandic hymn and an emotive performance of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s A Pile of Dust, which features in the original soundtrack for the 2017 biopic The Mercy, arranged here for a cappella voices by rising star composer Benjamin Rimmer. Also featured is a striking new version of multi-award-winning composer, producer and cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Ascent from her 2009 album Without Sinking, arranged by conductor, producer and co-founder of the London Contemporary Orchestra, Robert Ames. Guðnadóttir’s compositions include feature films Arrival and The Revenant as well as her 2019 Academy Award-winning score for The Joker.

The collection also boasts six brand new compositions including The Universe Within You, an uplifting cinematic work from celebrated composer Stephen Barton, whose credits include original video game soundtracks for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered; There is a Solitude, a spellbinding a cappella creation by composer and pianist Luke Howard with words by Emily Dickinson; a mesmerising work entitled Infinity from French composer and pianist Anne Lovett; and My Mind Is Still, a soothing and uplifting piece composed by award-winning composer Nainita Desai, behind emotive soundtracks for The Reason I Jump, For Sama, American Murder: The Family Next Door.

This exquisite collection of songs celebrates a diverse range of composers from the worlds of film, game, alternative and contemporary classical music and showcases VOCES8’s unique style and versatility.

 

VOCES8 is one of Britain’s most dazzling vocal ensembles, comprised of eight exceptional voices. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertory both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading orchestras, conductors and soloists.

Thanks to their verve and vitality, the beauty of their sound and irresistible expressive range, VOCES8 are ideally positioned to introduce an army of new listeners to the rich world of vocal ensemble music. They are passionate about music education and form part of the music charity VOCES8 Foundation. Engaging in a broad range of outreach work that reaches up to 40,000 people a year, they run an annual programme of workshops and masterclasses at the Foundation’s home in London, the VOCES8 Centre at St Anne & St Agnes Church. The group also awards eight annual choral scholarships to promising young singers through the VOCES8 Scholars initiative in the UK. Through the separate VOCES8 USA Foundation there is another set of talented Scholars.

Since the group was founded, VOCES8 have raised more than £1 million for their innovative education initiatives. Their pioneering book, the ‘VOCES8 Method’, is used in schools across the UK and USA. Developed by Paul Smith, co-founder of VOCES8, this renowned and unique teaching tool is available in four languages and adopts music to enhance development in numeracy, literacy and linguistics.

This season sees the launch of the VOCES8 Digital Academy, an online choral programme for high schools and colleges featuring live interaction with members of the ensemble, live and recorded lectures, and video resources to learn and perform music from the renaissance to today.

VOCES8 can be heard regularly on international television and radio. They are champions of new music and have premiered commissions from a wide range of contemporary composers including the group’s Composer-in-Residence Roxanna Panufnik and Arranger-in-Residence Jim Clements.

VOCES8 have performed at countless notable venues including London’s Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall, Sydney Opera House, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tokyo Opera City, NCPA Beijing and the Palacio de Bellas Artes Mexico City.