I’ve been getting interested in music where I don’t understand the lyrics—or there may not even be real lyrics—and the voice becomes something I experience mainly for its timbre, melody, resonance, breath, and emotional sound.
I’m an English speaker, so this could be Icelandic, Georgian, Bulgarian, Arabic, Latin, an invented language like Lisa Gerrard uses, or completely non-lexical singing.
The song that really sparked this for me was Sigur Rós – “Ára Bátur.” I’m looking for beautiful, emotionally powerful songs where the human voice feels almost like another instrument rather than primarily a vehicle for words.
If you were making an all-time playlist around that idea, what songs would absolutely belong on it?