The ten songs on the new album “Songs in the Key of Collaboration” from Martin Høybye is also the soundtrack to a journey spanning several years of intercultural co-creation and research

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“Prompted by a serious water crisis in Cape Town, I set out to explore songwriting as a response to anthropogenic environmental impact, broadly speaking. The aim was to both explore how songwriting might shed light on lived experience, and to make songwriting accessible to others by collaboratively sharing stories in this way,” says the Danish singer and songwriter.

Five years later, he looks back on a plethora of human and non-human encounters in a project which earned him a PhD from Aarhus University in 2023, and which was fundamentally inspired by the concept of “the Anthropocene.” A term suggesting that humankind has become a force wielding global geological impact. An Anthropocene moment is then the lived experience of going through a time when we realize that the present or future will be fundamentally different than we had hoped or imagined, because of the repercussions of the climate and biodiversity crises.

“These crises will continue to impact the planet for generations to come. Droughts, floods, sea level rise, wild weather events, and resulting changes to sense of place and identity will follow. We may find ourselves grieving the loss of certain animals and plants, the loss of stability and familiarity. We may indeed experience a feeling described by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht as solastalgia – when we feel homesick yet are still at home,” explains Martin Høybye.

Engaging with such issues, the songwriting of this project serves as a response to environmental impact, which he terms “the overwhelm” of the Anthropocene. Songs have been written in two diverse settings, the aftermath of the Day Zero water crisis in in Cape Town, where he worked in 2019 gauging diverse experiences of environmental precariousness. The other setting was the Covid-19 pandemic in Denmark, and he wrote songs with people there in 2020, 2021 engaging with different experiences of this challenging time. Songwriting collaborators have come from South Africa, Denmark, the DRC, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Ghana, England, and Sweden.

Ten of 35 songs written in the project are presented on the album. They comprise a meeting of sentiments and ideas from different people, different countries, and very different living situations. A video is also released for the album’s first track “Dream of the Anthropocene.” Asking questions such as “how do we connect, when everything is broken?” this self-penned song encapsulates much of the artist and researcher’s impetus to reach out to others to co-create in times of crises.

“A song is a drop in a very big pond, but I believe in ripple effects and taking action by sharing ourselves, our experience, and knowledge. That may sound radical, but I believe inaction and non-sharing is actually more radical,” he says.

Listen to “Songs in the Key of Collaboration” here: https://hoybye.lnk.to/songs

Music video premiere for “Dream of the Anthropocene”: https://youtu.be/qRQ9jShx5cw

——————– More info ——————–

Martin Høybye is a singer and songwriter with a PhD in songcrafting processes and eight full length albums under his belt. He has been writing songs collaboratively with people in South Africa, the DRC, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Ghana, England, Sweden and Denmark since 2018, gauging lived experiences of living with climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and other issues.

“Songs in the Key of Collaboration” is a New Songrise production released May 3rd 2024 through Songcrafter Music. The album was produced and engineered by Dennis Ahlgren who also plays guitars, bass, keys on the record. Other personnel includes Ida Gormsen (bass), Minna Terp Høybye & Kirstine Birk (backing vocals), Andreas Brinck (würlitzer), Peter Dombernowsky (drums, perc.). Høybye sings, plays guitar(s), blues harp.

See also:

The project “Co-write with Martin”: https://martinhøybye.dk/co-write-with-martin/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ArtistMartinHoybye/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martinhoybye/

Høybye has written two music related books (‘Noget om sangskrivning’ 2010, ‘For alt I verden’ 2016).

Miscellaneous praise:

‘Songwriter of the Year’ – SongIsland
Honorary Songwriter Award – Danish Songwriters Guild
Danish Music Award-nominee (Songwriter of the Year)
Danish Music Award-nominee (Album of the Year)
Winner of Unison Songwriter’s Competiton
Several finalist placements and honorable mentions, USA Songwriting Competition, International Songwriting Competiton, the Great American Song Contest. Most recently the single “End of the World” received an Honorable Mention Award in the Great American Song Contest, 2023.

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“Songs in the Key of Collaboration” – nyt album er musikalsk milepæl fra Martin Høybye

Det nye album “Songs in the Key of Collaboration” fra Martin Høybye er også soundtracket til flere års international samskabelse og forskning i sangskrivning om menneskers erfaringer

“På grund af en alvorlig vandkrise i Cape Town satte jeg mig for at udforske sangskrivning som en reaktion på menneskeskabt miljøpåvirkning. Målet var både at undersøge, hvordan sangskrivning kan kaste lys over levet erfaring, og så ville jeg udvikle en metode til at gøre sangskrivning tilgængelig for andre, så vi kunne dele deres historier i sange,” siger sangeren og sangskriveren.

Fem år senere, kan han se tilbage på et væld af møder i et projekt, der indbragte ham en ph.d. fra Aarhus Universitet i 2023, og som grundlæggende var inspireret af antropocæne øjeblikke. Antropocæn betyder, at mennesket har fået global geologisk indflydelse. Et antropocænt øjeblik er så erfaringen, vi gør os, når vi indser, at nutiden eller fremtiden vil være fundamentalt anderledes, end vi havde håbet eller forestillet os, på grund af udslagene af klima- og biodiversitetskriserne.

“Det er forbundne kriser, der vil blive ved at påvirke planeten i kommende generationer. Tørke, oversvømmelser, havniveaustigninger, voldsomt vejr – og deraf følgende ændringer af vores kendte omgivelser vil påvirke os. Vi kommer til at sørge over tabet af visse dyr og planter, tabet af natur, stabilitet og genkendelighed. Nogle vil opleve en følelse, som filosof Glenn Albrecht har beskrevet som solastalgi – når vi har hjemve, men stadig er derhjemme,” forklarer Martin Høybye.

Sangskrivningen beskæftiger sig med den slags spørgsmål og er samtidig et slags modsvar til det, han kalder ”den totale overvældelse” af det antropocæne. Sangene er blevet skrevet i to forskellige scenarier: Efterdønningerne af Day Zero-vandkrisen i Cape Town, hvor han i 2019 skrev sange med andre om erfaringer med miljømæssig usikkerhed. Den anden setting var Covid-19-pandemien i Danmark, hvor han skrev sange med folk i 2020, 2021. Med-sangskriverne i projektet kommer fra Sydafrika, Danmark, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Ghana, England og Sverige.

Ti af projektets 35 sange præsenteres nu på albummet ”Songs in the Keyof Collaboration.” Et møde af indsigter og reaktioner fra forskellige mennesker, fra forskellige lande og med meget forskellige livssituationer. Der er også blevet plads til et par sange, som Høybye har skrevet selv, bl.a. “Dream of the Anthropocene.” I sangen spørges: “How do we connect, when everything is broken?” Det spørgsmål afslører noget af den personlige drivkraft, der lå bag sangskriverens beslutning om at række ud til andre for at samskabe i en krisetid.

“En sang er kun en dråbe i et stort hav, men jeg tror på ringe, der spredes. På at dele sig selv, sin erfaring og viden. Det lyder måske radikalt, men jeg mener, at det er mere radikalt at lade stå til og passe sit eget,” siger han.

Lyt til “Songs in the Key of Collaboration” her: https://hoybye.lnk.to/songs

Musikvideo premiere “Dream of the Anthropocene”: https://youtu.be/qRQ9jShx5cw


——————– Mere info ——————–

Se projektet “Co-write with Martin” her: https://martinhøybye.dk/co-write-with-martin/


Martin Høybyes Facebook-side: https://www.facebook.com/ArtistMartinHoybye/


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martinhoybye/

Baggrund:

Martin Høybye er en sanger og sangskriver med en ph.d. i sangskrivningsprocesser (2023) og otte albumudgivelser bag sig, senest ’The Hourglass Sessions’ fra 2019. Siden 2018 har han lavet kunstnerisk forskning og skrevet sange i samarbejde med folk fra ind- og udland med udgangspunkt i oplevelser af bl.a. at gå igennem klima- og biodiversitetskriserne.

Songs in the Key of Collaboration” udkommer 3. maj 2024 på Songcrafter Music og er en New Songrise produktion.

Albummet er produceret af Dennis Ahlgren, som også spiller bl.a. guitar, bas, keys. Desuded medvirker Ida Gormsen medvirker (bas), Minna Terp Høybye og Kirstine Birk (kor), Andreas Brinck (würlitzer) og Peter Dombernowsky (trommer, perc.). Høybye synger, spiller guitar(er) og mundharpe.

I projektet er der skrevet sange med folk fra Sydafrika, Den Republikanske republik Congo, Zimbabwe, Somalien, Ghana, England, Sverige og Danmark, som har taget imod Høybyes åbne invitation til at samarbejde – uanset forudgående musikalsk erfaring.

Martin Høybye har skrevet to musikrelaterede bøger: ’Noget om sangskrivning’ (2010) og ’For alt i verden’ (2016).

Han har løbende modtaget priser og anerkendelse for sin sangskrivning i ind- og udland:


‘Songwriter of the Year’ – SongIsland
Æreslegat – Danske Populær Autorer
Danish Music Award-nomineret (Årets sangskriver)
Danish Music Award-nomineret (Årets album)
Vinder af Unison Songwriter’s Competiton
Flere gange finalist i: The USA Songwriting Competition, International Songwriting Competiton, the Great American Song Contest, samt We are Listening.
Senest modtaget Honorable Mention for singlen “End of the World” i the Great American Song Contest, 2023.