Composer and pianist Véronique Vella released her debut solo album One of the Number this week.
This electroacoustic album features the spoken word, with women from six European countries sharing their experiences of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The languages featured are Maltese, English, French, Italian and Spanish. Each of the 10 tracks on the album is named after the woman who shared her thoughts and reflections with the artist.
The work is being digitally distributed on Spotify and on most online music-sharing platforms.
The featured participants are mostly in their 30s and 40s and are based in Malta, France and Scotland. As they are friends, colleagues or family members of Vella’s, the delivery often verges on the confessional, creating an intimate snapshot of the women’s lives.
The tone of the album ranges from the bleak and dark to the hopeful and sometimes spiritual. The style of the album was influenced by minimalism, downtempo ambient psychedelia and sacred music.
In the opening track, Scottish musician and avid long-distance runner, Elspeth, talks about contracting the virus in the UK during the first wave of the pandemic. Nathalie, a schoolteacher, details how she and her family spent their time during lockdown in France.
Jessica is a hospital nurse who shares her fears about passing the virus on to her children, before the vaccine was available in Malta. Lucía outlines the challenges of remotely managing the university’s dance studies department during the pandemic and not being able to visit family in Spain.
The album also features the composer’s mother, Therese, who speaks about the isolation and anxiety the pandemic caused among the elderly and vulnerable. Dancer and educator Sara, on the other hand, tells of the challenges she experienced after becoming a first-time mother last year, miles away from her family in Italy.
Claudia, who is still covering coronavirus-related stories, offers a journalist’s perspective, while Scottish singer and educator Aimee speaks about having to switch to online performing and losing work.
Despite the overall gloomy theme of the album, the music offers a ray of hope. This is most apparent in the final track, thanks to Olivia’s philosophical musings, which address the urgent need for everyone to come together and strive for a better world.
Rene Mamo was in charge of mixing and mastering Vella’s album, while Oliver Degabriele designed the cover art. The project was funded by Arts Council Malta.