Johnathan Cilia    May 4, 2017

Malta’s Most Colourful Musical Contributions

Malta’s national discography is varied and, sometimes, just sometimes, a thing of true beauty. In recent years especially, a lot of Malta’s music – for better or for worse – has been recorded in all its forms, and some of these projects really capture some of the more colourful sides of Maltese life.

When you start digging into the vaults, you begin to find gems the likes of which other countries cannot possibly have.

For example, which other nation can so sublimely express its admiration, adoration, and dedication to the feminine bust but the nation that worshipped the Goddess of Fertility?

It is not only the locals that know this. Maltese culture demands such respect that even in Communist China, where they have no gods or goddesses, they must bow before Malta’s strength.

Odes to Maltese sovereignty abound, with a deft use of the Semitic roots of the language to really bring out the passion and honour one finds in the local population in defence against foreign invaders. The use of modern productions standards allows greater dissemination of this patriotic anthem.

Our national music celebrations are the envy the world over, with peace, love, and responsible joy being the keywords. These festivals have always been known for the eloquent crowds, and advanced planning and infrastructure, and, with the support of the community, improved year by year.

Another great thing about these festivals were that any parents worried about their children being offered illicit substances needed not worry – everyone knew there were no drugs to be found here.

International events like Band Aid were given the local treatment, as well as seasonal songs, for a Maltese spin on these timeless classics to really bring on the homely warmth of togetherness. I haven’t seen Jingle Bells sung so well through the nasal passages since someone played me those Mongolian Throat Singers last Christmas over starters.

London. Paris. New York. Malta. Malta doesn’t do fashion: Malta is fashion. And what better way to show this than by writing a pontifical ode about the glorious garment that is the beloved shoe, in English, and, just for the hook, replace the word shoe with zarbun. Then, obviously, worldwide release.

With a team including an Icelandic/American producer named Haffi Haff – meaning a guy named Haffi produced a song called Zarbun – behind her, she continued to drop her pop-electro breakdown and make all the nannas on Hadd Ghalik get down like it was really 1961.

Of course, in such a musical nation, what could be more traditional and show your closeness to the people than by launching your electoral bid for Leadership of this great country than through a communal song and the tradition bahri dance from atop the sea?

Clearly, as noted from the above video from the People’s Republic of China, all you need to do is put your name in a version of this anthem and you are happily on your way to political glory.

And for those already on their way to political glory, there is only one thing left to do: Techno.