Itamar Erez & Hamin Honari : Migrant Voices

Migrant Voices is an improvisational music album by Itamar Erez (Israeli-Canadian guitarist) and Hamin Honari (Iranian-Canadian percussionist). When speaking to its ethos, the artists stated “It is a unique project that blends diverse cultural influences, highlighting the spontaneous interplay between guitar and percussion.” The six track collection portrays vivid scenes and structures that are then absolved with abstract sonic formations, mercurial temperaments, and explorative flows. All that to portray the fleeting quality of mystique, power, control, beauty, and life. It is a very conceptual album especially if you are willing to listen to the spaces it travels to. Listen Now! 

The album is not a familiar phenomena. It is new and full of deliberate innovations. Apart from the title track 'Migrant Voices' (I. Erez), the album is based on free improvised sessions recorded at Monarch Studios in Vancouver BC, Dec 2023. In ‘Departure’, (the opening track) we experience a cyclical interaction of the guitar and the percussion. It is a push and pull, action and reaction. There’s a power struggle that is progressively balanced, only to rear its head again. It’s the struggle of remaining and letting go, but all things and people must depart. 

Once you get accustomed to the camaraderie and fluid intentions of the artists, a whole new perspective reveals itself. It’s not about making sense of it, but more about being present to catch the momentous evolutions, artistic intricacies, and the passing current. ‘Migrant Voices’ is an evocative guitar solo, the only single of the album that has a continuous and intentional melodic symmetry. 

In ‘Dancing With Stardust’ the melodies and beats form random patterns around each other, but there’s a thread of synchrony that you can’t help but chase. Just when you think it’s vanishing, you see it turning the curve. ‘Embrace’ is a more ambient, albeit visceral, soundscape. There’s a definite sense of intimacy, an omnipresence that flutters and echoes around you. 

‘Forgotten Sands’ has an oriental gradient to it. You’ll catch it in the flickering beats and the gliding melodies. And in the spaces between, a mystical land spans. And ‘Mirage’ is as elusive a composition as the concept itself. It is composed in such a way that if you follow the melody, the beats are all you hear, and the other way around. A brilliant design rooted in actualising extraordinary concepts. 

The album is available for streaming and purchase on Bandcamp. It will soon be available on other major platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music. 

You can listen to ‘Migrant Voices’ by Itamar Erez and Hamin Honari here -