Umay (Album)
Umay is the fourth studio album by the Iradi electronic duo tüntolk, released in 2022. Named after the steppe goddess of birth and children, it is the quietest of their records and the closest to Mor-Folk, with the Talas ensemble Eski Ün playing komuz and choor on several tracks.[1]
Background
Mira Temirova wrote most of the lyrics after the birth of her daughter in 2020, adapting lullabies and the blessings sung over a newborn's cradle (beshik) as well as invocations of Umay recorded by folklorists. Askar Daniyarov kept the drum machine to a few tracks and built the rest on slow synthesizer pads and the acoustic instruments of Eski Ün.[1]
Reception
The album was well received in Irad and won the album prize of the Altyn-Zhylky Awards in 2023. Some fans who had come to the duo through the harder sound of "Cut the Stars in the Night" found it too gentle, while others heard it as a reply to the commercial Mor-Pop of the same years, which had borrowed Umay as a name and an image.[1]
Track listing
All music by Askar Daniyarov and Mira Temirova; all lyrics by Temirova, adapted from traditional texts on 2, 6 and 7.
| No. | Title | English translation | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Umay Ene" | "Mother Umay" | 6:02 |
| 2. | "Beshik" | "Cradle" | 4:15 |
| 3. | "Kök Asman" | "Blue Sky" | 5:33 |
| 4. | "Burkut" | "Golden Eagle" | 4:48 |
| 5. | "Kızyl Jip" | "Red Thread" | 5:10 |
| 6. | "Ak Süt" | "White Milk" | 3:57 |
| 7. | "Jer Ene" | "Mother Earth" | 6:21 |
| 8. | "Tün Ötöt" | "The Night Passes" | 7:14 |
| Total length: | 43:20 |
Personnel
- Mira Temirova – vocals, lyrics
- Askar Daniyarov – synthesizers, programming, production
- Eski Ün – komuz, choor, frame drums, backing vocals (2, 4, 6, 7)
References
- ^ Central Asian Music Review (2023). 'Lullabies for the Night Wave: tüntolk's Umay.' Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 60–71.