Nyapillilngu (Spirit Lady) collaboration with Rrawun Maymuru by Nick Wales

Collaboration between Rrawun Maymuru and Nick Wales

Nyapillilngu [pronounced - Na-pil-lil- new] is the spirit lady that protects the passage between the Earth and Milky Way. She looks after this land and the spirit of this land; from Earth to the Milky Way to ensure safe passage between both dimensions. Her totem is the Guwak a type of scrub turkey who links her to the clans Managalili. Ritharrngu , Gupabuyngu and Gumatj and carries her messages to them. It is these clans that Yolngu Songman Rrawun Maymuru is a descendant of.

Late in 2016, a new collaboration idea was formed between Yolngu Songman Rrawun Maymuru [East Journey] and Sydney composer Nick Wales [CODA, Sarah Blasko, Sydney Dance Co.]. The vision was to fuse the traditional songs of Rrawun’s ancient heritage with Nick’s electronic and classical sound worlds for the finale of a live dance performance. Nyapillilngu was originally commissioned by the Sydney Dance Company for Rafael Bonachela’s Ocho which premiered at the Roslyn Packer Theatre Sydney on May 1st 2017. In a full review of the dance program The Guardian musically declared the song as “A new dawn” . Three years on and the recorded version of Nyapillilngu; Spirit Lady is being released to the general public.

The collaboration was seeded in 2012 when Nick first set eyes on Rrawun at the NIMAs in Darwin. After hearing his voice Nick knew Rrawun’s vocal carried the distinctly spiritual resonance perfect for the transcendental quality he was seeking for the finale of Bonachela’s dance work Ocho. “We discussed how a song might reflect the universal aspect of the number 8 and Rrawun offered a Songline stemming from his paternal side the Mangalili clan called Nyapillilingu; the Spirit Lady. I was particularly drawn to the idea of 8 being a number of balance between different forces.”

Musically speaking Rrawun’s vocals have been mixed with electronica and soaring strings in a re-contextualization of the music of his homeland in North East Arnhem Land through a fusion of contemporary electronica and new classical music. The sound world is uplifting, and epic. The song seeks to engage the listener in the idea of a strong connection of the spirit to the land and all our communities speaking to the ongoing evolution of perceptions around Indigenous music traditions within wider musical contexts.   “The story of Nyapillilngu for me spoke to the eternal and balancing aspect of number 8 and the duality between the heavens & the earth. ”says Nick Wales