Murmurosi – Svitanok (Ukrainian Folk Reinvented) (Self-released, 2025)
Murmurosi released the passionate Svitanok (Ukrainian Folk Reinvented) independently. The title means “dawn” in Ukrainian and draws on the phrase “life will overcome death, and light will overcome darkness.” The album presents traditional and newly imagined songs that move between grief, ritual, and playful energy.
Svitanok evolves as a cycle where each charming track stands alone, nevertheless contributes to an overall journey from night toward morning. Musically, Svitanok effortlessly weaves emotive traditional influences with stylish western classical and jazz elements.
The opener “Kotyku Sirenkyi” uses a folk lullaby about a cat and whispered spells to ask the stars and a raven for blessings and protection over sleeping children.
“Yak Pryikhav Miy Mylenkyi” follows as an intimate story of a man returning home and hesitating beneath his beloved’s window. “De Buv Solovey” places the nightingale as a symbolic messenger within a wedding ritual.
“A Divchyna Horlytsia” shifts the tone toward youthful, joyful flirtation and dance, while “Babusia i Dido” functions as a brief interlude built from a real phone call to vocalist Natalia’s grandmother in Ukraine. “Vesnianochka” draws on spring song traditions, evoking circle dances and seasonal renewal.
“Choho Pole Pochornilo” (“Why Has The Field Gone Black?”) addresses the aftermath of war and return from the front lines. The track reflects on trauma, loss, and the challenge of reintegrating into everyday life.
“Liuli” returns to lullaby form with close harmonies and a steady, rocking refrain focused on care, safety, and a parent’s hopes for a child. “U Subotu Vvecheri” offers a brief, upbeat snapshot of Saturday evening social life through skillful wordless vocal interplay and rhythm.
“U Nedilyu Rano” centers on a mother sending her daughter across the sea and fearing an uncertain future, mirroring Natalia’s own move from Ukraine to Canada. The daughter’s imagined return as a bird at her mother’s window highlights the album’s recurring motif of distance bridged through song.
“Karpatska” pays direct tribute to the Carpathian Mountains with a short, driving piece rooted in regional dance rhythms, while “Oy Yuriyu” draws from a Carpathian wedding “kolomyika,” emphasizing call-and-response energy and communal celebration. “Tsykhanka Vorozhka” uses quick turns of harmony to echo the figure of a fortune-teller and the tension between entertainment and unease in folk storytelling.
“Kotyku Taksim” closes the album by returning to the cat motif in a playful, rhythm-forward piece that seals the record’s narrative arc. By the end of Svitanok, the sequence of lullabies, ritual songs, and dance tunes frames dawn not only as a time of day but as a statement of survival and cultural continuity.
Musicians: Natalia Telentso on vocals; Eli Camilo on vocals, trumpet, trombone, piano; Josh Greenberg on guitar, oud, bouzouki, baglamas, drymba; Émilou Johnson on upright bass.
Guest musicians: Yordan Markov: tapan on tracks 01,09, darbuka on track 04; and Katya Kovshun on vocals on tracks 06,13.
Produced by Kevin Moquin
Recorded at Fast Forward Studio. Engineered by Gideon Yellin. Mixed by Kevin Moquin. Mastered by Justin Gray.
Illustration & design: Natalia Telentso.
Buy Svitanok.
Author: JGurski
