As far back as I can remember, songs sung in Maltese seemed to be generally dismissed either as festival fodder, or at best, treated as a lesser category to all imported music (by radio stations especially).

This, despite the fact that the Maltese songbook contains many a worthy pop song that has sought to shake off traditional confines, and mix in more contemporary elements.

Such efforts have probably become more tangible in recent years. After a long hiatus, the resurgence of songs sung in Maltese has been growing at an amazing rate, thanks to the emergence of many young artists determined to instill their own brand of freshness.

This has been what some may call a contemporary shake-up to the kanzunetta Maltija. As a result, our native tongue has infiltrated pop, rock, metal, punk and even hip hop. And in each of these genres, there have been some amazing results.

Studying instills a sense of discipline that can be applied to anything later on in life

The latest of these has to be Hawn Jien, the debut album from young singer and songwriter Corazon.

The 11-track album was launched last week during an interesting event. Rather than just celebrating Corazon’s own music, the event acknowledged several people whose dedication and passion has inspired the artist – and many other Maltese artists too – to keep writing Maltese language songs.

“Funnily enough, the first song I wrote was in Italian,” Corazon tells me.

“I’ve also written in English, but I chose to write primarily in Maltese, because I’ve always felt comfortable with the language.”

Corazon says music has been a part of her life since infancy. Indeed, her mother recalls her clapping in time to the marċ tal-banda when she was just 11 months old.

“My mother sang to me all the time, so I suppose I was surrounded by music all of my life.”

She started tinkling away on the piano at a young age, before studying it properly.

In similar fashion, she auditioned for the school choir before she ever knew she could sing.

“My teacher told my mother I had a good voice, so I started studying classical singing too.”

She insists that her classical background has proved to be a vital asset in her career.

“Studying instills a sense of discipline that can be applied to anything later on in life,” she explains.

“It’s so sad to see talented young artists disappear after a while, because they cannot apply themselves with adequate determination to what they want to achieve.”

She may not have aspired to be an artist in her childhood, but Corazon applied herself to learning the piano and singing, even if she never thought her songs would be good enough to share with others or in public.

Time, of course, has proved otherwise, as she has won the L-Għanja tal-Poplu festival three times so far.

“The first time I entered with Kieku Taf in 2006, I was quite nervous,” she admits.

“But the feedback I got, especially from my fellow artists, motivated me to keep writing, and I’m glad I did.”

She emphasises the importance of this festival and its role in promoting the use of the Maltese language in music.

“The festival also helped me find a niche for my songs.”

Her work may sound nothing like the commercial music the mainstream thrives on, but at their core, her songs are still pop, just of a different breed.

In fact, such is their immediacy that after just one listen to her album, the melodies quickly embed themselves in the listener’s mind.

Coupled with the clarity of her lyrics – she likes to use simple, everyday words that everyone is familiar with – the music on Hawn Jien is rather flowing, simple in its texture but deep in the ambiance that its arrangements project and suggest.

“The songs on the album primarily reflect my musical journey to date,” Corazon explains. “But more importantly, they are songs that people can identify with, because they are essentially about things that happen around everyone of us on a daily basis.”

Digging deeper, one finds an intrinsic Maltese quality to the album; some of the topics ad­dressed may also exist in other countries, but the way they are presented here is very Maltese.

And who best to enhance that distinguishing Maltese timbre, if not someone who has made it his mission to immerse himself in Maltese literature and resurrect it through music?

“I chose to work with Dominic Galea on the arrangements for the album, precisely because he has an amazing way of instilling a certain Maltese character in the music.”

In particular, she says she loves the natural feel Galea gave her songs.

“His choice of instruments was crucial towards emphasising the right sounds and complementing every song’s character and feel.”

Also important was the involvement of live musicians during the recording.

“I really wanted the songs to effuse that live feel, as this gives them a more human touch.”

This meant that five of the songs – essentially those she competed with in the L-Għanja tal-Poplu festival – needed to be re-recorded.

“I definitely wanted to include them. But because they were recorded at different times, they sounded different to the rest of the album, so we re-did them.”

The songs were also given new arrangements.

“Yes, Dominic was essential in this regard, bringing a new glaze to the songs that fit right in with the rest of the album.”

Recorded, edited and mixed at Lito’s Place by Manolito Galea, and with Steve Borg as its executive producer, Hawn Jien proved to be a success with all who attended the album launch.

“The significant attendance at the launch was the proof I looked for in my belief that Maltese music deserves more exposure and a wider audience,” Corazon commented.

“It took a lot of work, energy, time and money to produce a high-end quality album, but in the end, it’s not about the expense, it’s the satisfaction one gets when the music succeeds in connecting with the audience.”

For more information, or to order a copy of Hawn Jien, e-mail hawnjien2013@gmail.com.

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