The brainchild of Hawaii-born singer songwriter Marco Leon, Sonder City captures the spirit of collaboration and genre fusion. Coming out of Los Angeles, the project has an evolving cast of artists, writers, and instrumentalists, all working together to make evocative and leveling tunes. On "Symphony of Starlight," Sonder City transforms a piano composition into a five minute long, heart-wrenching epic.
Self-described as "an odyssey into the human spirit," the single is most captivating for its attentive and resonating quality. A purely instrumental cut, the arrangement sings all on its own, with the piano sounding as if it has heard all the world's suffering without us having to say a word. There's a gravity to the keys that's nicely tempered by backing woodwinds. "Symphony of Starlight" is a desperate yell into the void, wherein the void tenderly yells back.
Of the track, Leon says: "This piece was written during a particularly harrowing winter in Annapolis, Maryland, while I was attending the Naval Academy and sneaking onto its pianos at night to mentally flee the rigors of Midshipman life. What sprouted as a simple piano riff ultimately grew into a song about reflection, struggle, and transformation."
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