A haunting journey of vocals, brooding synths, and orchestral intensity.

Paths crossing are a London-based composer duo exploring the musical dialogues of award-winning musicians Esbe and Peter Michaels. Their latest release ‘Raven’ is a soundtrack to a film, currently in pitch development, which reinvents the story of Martin Guerre, a 16th century French peasant whose tale is one of the first cases of identity theft stories. However, this rendition is told from the wife’s (Raven) perspective and relocated to 1801, where English soldiers are sent to fight the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt.

The tracks are rich in emotional depth and visceral intensity and are painted from a broad palette, taking influences from far and wide, whilst often loosely exploring tonalities and inflections inspired by music from the Middle East. The tracks are clearly cinematic in nature,  utilising ominous drones and hypnotic ostinatos, often based around synths and strings. This sets a brooding tension for Esbe’s distinctive ethereal and melismatic voice to soar above.

Tracks such as ‘Arrival’ provide a full orchestral soundscape, bringing the track to a high intensity climax which is both powerful and beautiful, taking the listener on a tumultuous musical journey. In contrast, the track ‘Lullaby’ offers a more introspective reflection of the protagonist´s yearning for the return of her partner. This song is stripped back, just with female vocals and minimalist acoustic guitar accompaniment, which suits the mood and also highlights the composers’ skill in bringing emotional vulnerability as well as high intensity to their songs.

The compositions throughout this album are exquisite and intensely evocative. Despite it being designed as a soundtrack, the narrative and emotional contours are evident without it accompanying the film which is a great achievement. I can’t wait to see it alongside the potential film!

Listen to Raven on spotify

connect with Paths Crossing: 

Esbe on Instagram | Spotify

Peter Michaels on Instagram | Spotify