Album Notes

Hell bent on defying the genre of ‘choral music’, the women of Aliqua – a latin word meaning ‘parts of a whole’ – are intent on searching the globe to find and share the most engaging music that the world has to offer. From a Venezuelan traveler’s song to a French lullaby, a South Mexican huapango to an Argentinean tango, Aliqua strives to engulf themselves and their audience in unknown and unexpected musical territory.



The group’s new self-titled disc marks their Nettwerk Records debut, a signing that thrilled and surprised the 10-member group, a collective that has been shattering preconceptions since their early days singing together in high school. It was during that period that some of the girls joined a community project, one that didn’t fully satisfy all of their musical appetites. “The keeners in that group,” recalls member Erin Bishop, “decided to have extra rehearsals, but since we already knew all our music, we ended up teaching ourselves a new piece. That is what started it; we realized that we could work without a conductor, cut out the boring stuff and do the fun things that make choral music exciting.”



The members began singing anything and everything that appealed to them, whether or not traditionally suitable for a ‘choir’. “The first song that shook up where we were and where we started to go was “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics,” explains member Tavia Cosper. “We previously had stuck to music intended for a choir, but that song pushed us into a new direction. We always had the idea that we wanted to change the impression of ‘choir’ but we had never really been able to accomplish that until we took that step with that song.” They haven’t looked back since.



In conjunction with their unconventional approach, the group began showcasing their sound at a wide variety of events, from winning traditional international choral competitions to singing at contemporary radio stations to performing for Dr. Jane Godall. It was at a charitable performance in 2007 that they were spotted by Nettwerk execs, signing to the label later that same year. “We were all ridiculously excited,” recalls Erin. “The picture we took of the signed contract was my Facebook profile pic for a month. At least!”



The women then set to work on their self-titled CD, with half of the disc produced by Ashwin Sood (Sarah McLachlan) and Dru Masters (Delerium, Mediaeval Baebes). Unlike their previous independent release, the members wanted to expand beyond an a cappella approach, adding subtle, beautiful instrumentation throughout. “We wanted to approach this album as if it were our first cd,” explains Erin, “to be really diverse with out repertoire while maintaining a cohesive identity and signature sound.” Musical contributions range from the aforementioned Sood and Masters to Vincent Jones (Cowboy Junkies, Morrissey) and Sarah McLachlan, who became inspired to perform piano on “Berceuse” after hearing the track as it was being mixed in the studio.



Their choices of songs on this CD remains incredibly diverse, from 60’s soul to controversial opera pieces to their take on Metallica and beyond. (See the track-by-track breakdown for more details.) Singing only what they think is interesting, terrifying, enthralling, or beautiful, Aliqua knows no boundaries. “We never stick to one thing, “ explains member Ellie Lesani, “We never play within the box, we are constantly pushing ourselves and our audiences to listen to, see and try new things when it comes to music.”



Aliqua perpetually shatters the preconceptions of what people would expect from a 10-member all-female singing group. Listen to Aliqua – and equally notably, go see them live – so that they can shatter yours.