Though any and all vocals on De Sidera are wordless, language is central to the album. “I try to make my vocalisms sound like words,” she explains, “but it is a kind of invented language. Somehow the form, the signifier, is enough to express meaning, sense, emotion.” Burelli notes that this concept has resonance with her practice in Greek and Turkish music, in which wordless vocals and instrumental improvisations are common. This is front and center on a song like the title track “De Sidera,” where Burelli’s rising and falling vocals dance atop an undulating, contemplative bassline - close your eyes, and the clear tides of the Mediterranean lap at the sand - her wordless intonations guiding you to a tranquil state. Burelli surrenders to the natural world and the ineffability of words - on De Sidera she shares the gem of universality she discovered while doing so.
