Folk-pop band The Travellers’s decision to produce songs in Maltese has sparked a debate on the lack of songs in the language, with many saying the group are reshaping the local music scene with their music.
The six-piece, made up of Gozitans Chris Gatt, Joseph Xerri, Sylvano Mizzi, Andrew Vella, Clayton Bonello and Michael Camilleri, had initially started out writing songs in English, as is common practice for most local artists looking to make a name for themselves in the business.
However, while working on new material for their EP, the group often found themselves shifting to writing in their mother tongue and after some deliberating, they decided to focus solely on writing Maltese songs.
Their debut single Sempliċità (Simplicity) has already made it to the top of local charts, despite being officially released in January, while the launch event for their EP Xemx u Xita, being held next month, has also sold out.
“We just wanted to produce something different in an already-diverse music scene, although at the time we had no idea we would end up producing songs in Maltese,” Mr Vella, the group’s songwriter, said.
The hardest aspect about writing lyrics in Maltese is finding a way to make the lyrics sound fresh
Fans have flooded the group’s Facebook page with positive reactions to this decision, saying their music was a “breath of fresh air” and encouraging them to keep producing songs in Maltese.
Some music enthusiasts have also expressed concern that Maltese lyrics were too often neglected and called on the group to use their new-found success to try and change this.
Over the past few years, commercially-successful songs have mostly been in English, with very few songs in Maltese making it to local airwaves and even fewer actually topping the charts.
On this, Mr Vella said the group was overwhelmed with the positive feedback, adding that it seemed as though they were succeeding in their aim of adding a new perspective to the local music scene.
While the band had worked on songs in English for over a year, it was only when they shifted to Maltese that they felt everything was actually coming together, he said.
“We believe that feelings are transmitted better when you hear songs in your native tongue.”
Those commenting on the group’s social media platforms also said that they were surprised to find that while the lyrics were in Maltese, the melody was contemporary.
According to Mr Vella, penning hits that way was actually the greatest challenge he had faced.
“The hardest aspect about writing lyrics in Maltese is to find a way to make the lyrics sound fresh. By choosing particular topics and being very aware of the choice of words, rhyming schemes and rhythms, we try to make the songs sound as relevant as possible to 2016.”
While the group would not exclude producing songs in another language in the future, Mr Vella said that for now, they would continue working in this way.