Solstice

Album: Indigo (2022)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The singer-songwriter-composer Dana Al Fardan has an unusual and inspiring backstory. She's from Qatar, a small country in the Middle East with a history of male guardianship that prevented many women from pursuing careers in music. A symphonic musician, she released her first album, Paint, in 2013, and in 2018 became Cultural Ambassador of the Qatari Philharmonic Orchestra. If you've flown Qatar Airways, you've heard her music: it's played when passengers come on board.

    In 2022 she released Indigo, with songs performed by the orchestra. "Solstice," a track from the album, she says "represents the space we find within that allows our light to shine through. It's the light that liberates the infinite glow we all hold, 'the light that freed the sun.'"
  • The Indigo album carries a concept of how color affects our emotions. It's based on the book Theory of Colours, first published in 1810 by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Each song on the album is designed to convey a different mood, just as various colors do in the visual spectrum.
  • The song was arranged by the Syrian violinist MAias Al Yamani and produced by the London-based Nico Dalla Vecchia, known as SINK.
  • The music video is intentionally abstract, showing Dana Al Fardan and members of the orchestra performing the song with overlays of color and other distortions. Each single from the album comes with this kind of visual representation, which is designed to give space for personal interpretation. It was directed by Ramy Dance at Common People Films in London.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Music Video Director David Hogan

Music Video Director David HoganSong Writing

David talks about videos he made for Prince, Alabama, Big & Rich, Sheryl Crow, DMB, Melissa Etheridge and Sisters of Mercy.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.

Grammar In Lyrics

Grammar In LyricsMusic Quiz

Lyrics don't always follow the rules of grammar. Can you spot the ones that don't?

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.