Two-time Queensland Music Award winners MZAZA release their third studio album, The Birth and Death of Stars. Recorded at Sierra Studios in Athens, Greece, the twelve-track album entangles themes of astronomy, philosophy and Greek mythology against a backdrop of refined Balkan-French folk-inspired compositions and arrangements featuring French and English lyrics.
An album perfectly suited to humanity’s current state of turmoil, The Birth and Death of Stars draws on the skills of some of Australia’s most uniquely diverse musicians and songwriters to lead the listener on a wonderful voyage through the ether, exploring what links us to each other and the world around us while poetically contemplating humanity’s place in the universe.
More than an album, the sextet’s conceptual collection of songs is linked by a thematically rich exploration of humanity in our contemporary world and is tied together by striking visual aesthetics contributed by Finnish collage animator Laura Matikainen (who is responsible for some of the band’s artwork and videos) and Brisbane artist Emily Devers (who created the album art).
The Birth and Death of Stars album is a musical ride built on exotic rhythms that make you smile and melodies that tap into the beating heart of humankind.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Birth & Death of Stars
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
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Purchasable with gift card
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Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
$20AUD or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Get all three MZAZA CD releases in one delicious bite! Journey over Skin, Ghosts and The Birth & Death of Stars. You will also receive a digital download of The Birth & Death of Stars.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Birth & Death of Stars
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Two-time Queensland Music Award winners MZAZA release their third studio album, The Birth and Death of Stars. Recorded at Sierra Studios in Athens, Greece, the twelve-track album entangles themes of astronomy, philosophy and Greek mythology against a backdrop of refined Balkan-French folk-inspired compositions and arrangements featuring French and English lyrics.
An album perfectly suited to humanity’s current state of turmoil, The Birth and Death of Stars draws on the skills of some of Australia’s most uniquely diverse musicians and songwriters to lead the listener on a wonderful voyage through the ether, exploring what links us to each other and the world around us while poetically contemplating humanity’s place in the universe.
More than an album, the sextet’s conceptual collection of songs is linked by a thematically rich exploration of humanity in our contemporary world and is tied together by striking visual aesthetics contributed by Finnish collage animator Laura Matikainen (who is responsible for some of the band’s artwork and videos) and Brisbane artist Emily Devers (who created the album art).
The Birth and Death of Stars album is a musical ride built on exotic rhythms that make you smile and melodies that tap into the beating heart of humankind.
Your support is crucial. 2020 has been very hard for artists and many have decided not to release music until they can tour extensively again. Releasing new music is a huge financial investment and the way we sell our work is through touring, which is currently limited. Streaming and digital music sales alone are far from sustainable for artists. By purchasing through this pre sale and encouraging your friends to do the same you will be ensuring that we can keep making music in the future.
credits
released September 4, 2020
Pauline Maudy: vocals
Greta Kelly: violin, shah keman, vocals
Ance Deksne: accordion, vocals
John Robertson: guitar, vocals
Goran Gajić: double bass, vocals
Jordan Stamos: darabuka, cajon, tapan
Recorded and mixed by Vangelis Lappas Sierra Studios, Athens, Greece
Mastered by William Bowden/King Willy Sound, Launceston, Australia
Graphics by Emily Devers
The Ether
P. Maudy
Tu m’as bien aimé sur cette île isolée
Tu étais ma boussole mon navire mon été
Je t’ai bien aime sous ce ciel étoilé
On nous a bien dit que tout pouvait s'écrouler
~
You loved me well on our lonely island
You were my compass, my boat, my summer
I loved you well under the star filled sky
They said it might not last forever
Stardust
G. Gajić | P. Maudy
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” Carl Sagan
When I lay in the river
The rocks weighed me down but i
never drowned
Once I flew through the fire
My wings burned to black
But I didn’t die
Your love lifts me up
Sets me free to the sky
Just a cloud of stellar dust
The milky way as my gown
Lyra
P. Maudy | M. Vejvoda
Je t’ai perdu dans les sables mouvants
Tout d’un coup tu as sombré trop rapidement
Et je cours et je cours en te cherchant
Et je tombe et je tombe en te cherchant
~
I lost you in the quicksand
Suddenly you went down, so fast
I run I run and I look for you
I fall I fall as I look for you
The Birth and Death of Stars
G. Gajić | P. Maudy
Des bulles de vie qui s'échappent sans que personne n'écoute
Pour elle c’est l’hiver qui dure et qui dure
Qui s'imprègne dans ses os
Dans le noir elle rêve de se laisser porter
Par la mer et ses belles vagues technicolores
~
Fragments of life that slip away
Without anyone noticing
For her, it’s a winter that never ends
That permeates her bones
In the dark she dreams she’ll be carried away
By the sea and its technicolor waves
Well Past Midnight
G. Gajić | P. Maudy
It’s well past midnight when you walk into the room
Where lost souls contemplate their fate
Sometimes life just doesn’t go as it should
We all need some shelter from the rain
Le Poinçonneur des Lilas
S. Gainsbourg
J'suis l'poinçonneur des Lilas
Le gars qu'on croise et qu'on n'regarde pas
Y a pas d'soleil sous la terre
Drôle de croisière
Paraît qu'y a pas de sot métier
Moi j'fais des trous dans des billets
~
I am the ticket puncher at Lilas station,
The man you meet but you don’t see
There is no sun underground,
It’s a strange life
They say that there’s no such thing as a stupid job
I make holes in tickets
Lucifer
A. Deksne | G. Gajić | G. Kelly | P. Maudy | J. Robertson | J. Stamos
Dans ce monde mythologique
On protège ta clique
Tu t’exaltes et tu convoites
Bien posé près du centre
Tu cultives la honte et tu sèmes les menaces
C’est l’usage de la peur
Et l’usage de la force
Qui nous brise et qui nous éloigne
~
In this mythological world
your clan is protected
you are exalted you desire
In the center of it all
you cultivate shame and you conspire
But it’s the use of fear
and the use of violence
that tries to break us
You, Me and the Cosmos
P. Maudy
Elle parle aux étoiles
Elle parle aux étoiles
Au fin fond de la nuit elle redevient enfant
Pendant ce court sursis elle se demande ce qui’il l’attend
S’il l’attend
Elle parle aux étoiles
~
She speaks to stars
She speaks to stars
In the depth of the night she becomes a child again
During this short reprieve she wonders what awaits her
If he waits for her
She speaks to stars
Parallèle
M. Morris | P. Maudy
“There’s as many atoms in a single molecule of your DNA as there are stars in the typical galaxy. We are, each of us, a little universe.” Neil deGrasse Tyson
Côte à côte et pas à pas
Tu te rapproches comme autrefois
Pour murmurer des mots tout bas
Qui disparaissent dans les bois
La tête dans les nuages
Quand mes pieds ne touchent plus le sol
On se recroise sans se toucher
Dans le silence qui nous connait
Nos songes d’enfants
Nos secrets d’avant
Insouciants
~
Side by side and step by step
You get closer like you used to
Your softly whispered words
Disappearing in the woods
My head is in the clouds
My feet no longer touch the ground
We pass each other without touching
In this silence that knows us well
Our childhood dreams
Our secrets of long ago
Carefree
L’Homme à la Moto
J. Leiber | M. Stoller | J. Dréjac
Il bondit comme un diable avec des flammes dans les yeux
Au passage à niveau, ce fut comme un éclair de feu
Contre une locomotive qui filait vers le midi
Et quand on débarrassa les débris...
~
Then he took off like the Devil and there was fire in his eyes!! He
Said "I'll go a thousand miles before the sun can rise." But he hit a screamin' diesel
That was California-bound
And when they cleared the wreckage, they found...
White Noise
A. Deksne | G. Gajić | G. Kelly | P. Maudy | J. Robertson | J. Stamos
Take what you can
Out of their hands
For your kind the dark side isn’t real
They say love slides
On your skin like a lie
While the cynics look for gold in your mind
Some Kind of Circus
G. Gajić | P. Maudy
Vous vous êtes pas un peu regardé
Votre caviar Porsche Jean Paul Gaultier
En attendant nous c’est Whiskas
Que vous nous forcez à bouffer
Et tout ce que tu me laisses chasser
C’est le point rouge sur le plancher
~
Have you looked at yourself
Your caviar Porsche Jean Paul Gaultier
In the meantime we get Whiskas
Forced down our throats
And the only thing you let me catch
Is the red dot on the wooden floor
Two-time Queensland Music Award winners MZAZA passionately deliver their stunning blend of folk to music lovers around the
world. Led by mesmerising French-Sephardic vocalist Pauline Maudy, these incredible musicians from Europe and Australia harness Balkan and French influences to create a musical ride that taps into the beating heart of humankind....more
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