Music is a Full-Body Experience
Music for the Soul review by Sophia West
On Saturday 9th March, I had the pleasure of attending POW’s Restival event, Music for the Soul.
If I had to pick one word to describe the evening, it would have to be revitalising.
I believe that listening to music – with the intent of rest and recuperation – is a full-body experience. There were three performances of the evening, and each one inspired such deep feelings of calm, I came away from the event feeling refreshed.
The evening’s event opened with a short performance by Institute Collective, an eclectic vocal ensemble who use their voices to evoke truly immersive ideas of space, weather, season, and time. Institute Collective were, I feel, the perfect opener; their music was magical, nostalgic, and almost weightless, it was like walking through a waterfall, the worries of before washing away with the music, leaving me almost cleansed of my personal anxieties. There was something spiritual about listening to their performance and I was transported to a place in my mind, untouched by the world.
That warm feeling followed me into and through Meg Bird’s beautiful performance, during which I could not help but smile. Meg Bird, inspired by jazz and soul music – artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, and Joni Mitchell – hopes to write music that celebrates the human spirit in all its complexities.
Listening to Meg Bird sing made me feel cosy, like my favourite hot beverage in a mug a size too big. As the world faded away, the music slid over my skin and soothed every ache, like watercolours bleeding on canvas, a dream dissolving into mist when the sun breaks in the morning. This is the type of music you listen to on a rainy day, wrapped up in a heavy throw, in your fluffiest socks; it is nourishment and rejuvenation, music that speaks to the soul and reminds you that you are made for joy and warmth. Meg Bird sang, ‘just look around, a good thing can be found,’ and her music was a fulfilled promise.
Mantawoman plays the yangqin, a beautiful Chinese percussive string instrument, and her performance was riveting, delivering an almost meditative experience. As a performer, she invited the audience to embrace change and reflect on our own journeys of transformation. Her music was mellow and honest, and spoke to the sad, slightly tarnished thing within and said, ‘I see you,’ and to be seen is sometimes exactly what we need.
She played a piece called Spirit of the Yellow Earth composed by Huang He, and the experience was transcendent. The sound of the yangqin is so full, an all-encompassing sound, it almost washes through you and sits in your chest, unobtrusive but demanding attention. it provided an excuse to turn inwards, to exist unburdened in this present space. It was such a captivating piece of music, it sank into my bones, I floated on the surface of the melody and let it carry me away from everything that tries to demand my attention and overwhelm me. When it was over, and I was brought back to the now, my mind was left humming in the silence the music had rendered within, and it felt like taking my first full breath of air in a long time.
I believe that listening to music is a full-body experience, and when you find the right music for you, you can be transported to faraway places, or even to the quietest parts of your mind, and it is always magic. By the end of the night, a night of music that felt like catharsis, I felt well and truly rested.
Sophia is a POW Young Producer Alumni
