Hand to Earth is a call to open your ears. Eluding genre, traversing continents and cultures and fusing the ancient with the contemporary, this largely improvised collaboration pushes the boundaries of musical forms.

At its heart are Yolŋu manikay (song cycles), a 40,000 plus year-old oral tradition from South East Arnhem Land. These songs exist to cross vast time and space, to continuously make the continuous – known as raki, the spirit that pulls all together, all performers, all listeners.

Hand to Earth developed during an Australia Art Orchestra (AAO) residency in the remote highlands of Tasmania. Yolŋu songman, Daniel Wilfred, and Korean vocalist, Sunny Kim, formed an effortless rapport; their combined vocal approaches expressing a deeply human commonality whilst also invoking raw elemental forces. Trumpeter and composer Peter Knight draws upon his minimalist influence to create a bed of electronic atmospheres that meld beautifully with these contrasting voices. The combination of Aviva Endean and David Wilfred’s evocative sounds will transport you to previously unimagined sonic plains. Hand to Earth is a stunning reminder that the world is a richer place when we sing together.

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