Esperanza Spalding Unveils 3-Song Healing Project, “Triangle”

Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza Spalding has just released a new piece called Triangle, a three-track project that was created as part of her Songwrights Apothecary Lab. The bassist/singer/composer wrote the three songs, which she calls formwelas, as a way to connect and heal her listeners. It’s a theme that began with 2018’s 12 Little Spells.

“I was remembering ways that music had supported me and wondering if we could go deeper into those themes,” Spalding told The New York Times.

Each of the songs were written with consultation from music therapists and neuroscientists as well as experts in Sufism and South Indian Carnatic music to achieve different results.

For instance, “Formwela 1” is described as an “atmosphere of temple-like calm flooding through and saturating the centrifuge of self.” The Songwrights Apothecary Lab website goes on to describe the music’s ingredients: the Cherukeshi Raga, an ear-worm melody, visualization and sensation, lyrical articulation, and the combination of bass and voice.

“Formwela 1, Formwela 2, and Formwela 3 were composed and developed while residing in Wasco County, OR,”the S.A.L. website says. “The feel and aesthetic of these songs were inspired and encouraged by Esperanza’s nourishing encounters with the land and peoples of this arid and sage-drenched region of her home state.”

Triangle is being released through songwrightsapothecarylab.com. They will also be featured on a full-length album this fall, Spalding tells the New York Times.

In addition to the music, Spalding released a 17-minute long visual that includes all the new music.

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