This is audible and visible. For her new concert tour, Mrs. "Nine Million Bicycles" and "The Closest Thing To Crazy" is teaming up with a 23-member Georgian women's choir. "In my Georgian homeland, polyphonic singing has a long tradition - almost every village has its own choir," she says: "I discovered the Gori choir by chance on Spotify, and I was blown away by its power."
The Gori Women's Choir is a central component of Melua's new album "In Winter" (on sale from October 14). The tracklist consists of ten new pieces that are entirely dedicated to the polyphonic sound. "The Little Swallow", for example, is a traditional Ukrainian Christmas song.
The collaboration with the singers reminds Melua of her very own story. She was also born in Georgia, but moved to England at the age of nine and grew up in London.
Katie Melua on new musical paths
Over the years, Melua has become inseparable from the "new world", but her memories of the old are still vivid. "As a child, the music of Queen and Led Zeppelin made me believe that London was heaven on earth," she says. "I now live there and no longer only see the beautiful sides of the city." The musicians from Georgia feel the same way: "These women don't have any misconceptions about the West - but when something is very far away, it quickly seems exotic." And desirable.
"If I had stayed in a conservative, patriarchal country, I would probably never have become a singer, but a mother and housewife."
Now Melua is breaking new musical ground. In her private life, she made a U-turn years ago. "When I was twenty, I still called myself a feminist and didn't believe in marriage. But then I met James (ex-motorcycle racer James Toseland, editor's note). And I couldn't imagine my life without him." She has been married to him for four years, so she is also a housewife and wife. A happy one, as she emphasizes.
KATIE MELUA
19/20.11.16, various venues
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