‘Home’ feat. Destani’s Piece (by Destani Wolf), will be released, the second single from Starita’s highly-anticipated second album, ‘Remember.’ As a body of work, ‘Remember’ explores the theme of death while continuing the thematic trajectory set by his compositional ambient, avant-garde, experimental album, ‘The Wake Up Call,’ an introspective journey across the stages of the human experience, from childhood curiosity to the pain and complexities of adulthood, leading to awareness, acceptance, and awakening on the quest for peace and freedom. ‘Remember,’ targeted for release in Fall 2024, is a sonic ride, ranging from dance tracks to compositional ambient pieces with lush thematic vocals. Starita’s first track from this album has received astounding support; securing premieres with top international and specialty press outlets including Wonderland, WJTV, Fame Magazine, Purple Mellon, and ROUGH, reaching an audience of over 2 Million alongside curated placements in large Spotify playlists reaching 106K followers.
While his debut single ‘Holding Pattern’ off ‘Remember’ was a late-night afro house dance track, ‘Home’ is an ambient track – an introspective, peaceful, relaxing journey into an expansive lush soundscape with intimate vocals – about returning home to where you feel closest to your true self. ‘Home’ has a double narrative. “One that is expressed is the pull I felt to return to my home of Mississippi. The song starts with waves I recorded at sunrise on the beach of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and runs throughout the entirety of the song, ending with the waves,” Starita explains. “The second narrative is a return to our true nature as open boundless consciousness or awareness. Sonically, this is represented with the way the song builds into an expansive lush encompassing soundscape representing a complete return to nothingness, which is actually everything.” In relation to the rest of the tracks on ‘Remember,’ this song is more sentimental, peaceful, and ambient while keeping in line with the overall album theme of death (impermanence). “In this case, it would represent ego death with the returning to source – home,” Starita explains. On ‘Home,’ fans will hear similarities to music by Nils Frahm and Cinematic Orchestra.
From creating musical magic in collaboration with members of A Tribe Called Quest to Los Amigos Invisibles and Michael Franti and Spearhead, Starita, a multi-talented artist, songwriter, and producer has consistently stunned audiences around the world with his extraordinary fusion of electronic and acoustic instrumentations. Drawing from his deep roots in dance, ambient, funk, rock, and techno music, he creates a lush yet complex signature sonic landscape that is both opulent and intricate. These artist collaborations have consistently birthed cutting-edge, original rule-defying productions that dare to disrupt music genre norms, elevate vibrations, and provoke moments of profound spiritual introspection. The collaboration on this track featuring the haunting vocals of Destani Wolf is no exception.
To emphasize the emotional and spiritual essence of the song’s narrative and bring an ethereal quality to it, Starita wanted to incorporate vocals. “Usually in an ambient composition there are no vocals, but with this song, I wanted intimate vocals that expand into a massive vocal wash. I knew the one person that was perfect for the sound I was going for and that was singer and songwriter, Destani Wolf,” Starita says. “We’ve worked together in the past so I was very familiar with her extraordinary vocal abilities. She has one of the largest ranges of any vocalist I’ve worked with, not only in relation to notes but how she can bring a listener in with intimacy and peacefulness then expand into a powerhouse of soulful bliss. It really is an amazing gift to be able to work with her on this song and the other tunes on the record yet to be released.” About their collaboration on ‘Home,’ Wolf adds, “Starita and I began working together on music and found a common thread on how we approach life and inner peace. During 2020, I took a new direction to create musical mindfulness – meditation music, Binaural Beats, and healing frequencies – to promote transformative change and peace, launched under Destani’s Piece. It was mainly because it soothed my soul and I was curious about creating music that could help be a catalyst for deeper meditation and healing. Starita sent me this serene track and asked if I resonated with it, which I did right away. I was immediately washed with a sense of peace. The melody of long tones flowed through me first. This feeling made me think of pure presence, being awake and feeling free and at home with our own hearts. Starita asked if I could create an ascending vocal arpeggio.”
‘Home’ begins in the comfort of familiarity, the sound of waves in Starita’s hometown, and then transcends into an otherworldly vocal realm, led by Wolf. Her lead vocals flow with an airy warmth, akin to an artist delicately airbrushing a canvas. The choral vocals blend seamlessly, resonating in perfect harmony, infusing the music with life and power. As the song comes to a close, the choral vocals seamlessly merge into the soundscape, contributing a nuanced yet vital layer to the overall composition to highlight the second narrative. Wolf’s vocal contribution on ‘Home’ is medicine for listeners. “My role in this song is to soothe and heal. My lyrics are gentle reminders that I am home, and it is powerful to be vulnerable and kind to myself,” Wolf says. “With the ebbs and flows with life, it is a gift to feel at home with oneself, to feel whole, to feel safe. I don’t take that for granted and my hope is that everyone could find their way to that feeling no matter what they have been through. Knowing that it can take time and so we need to be kind to ourselves in the process. I’m filled with hope for others’ journey with healing, feeling whole and feeling loved.”
As an artist, Starita’s music creation process starts as an expression of consciousness itself, flowing through him instead of from him, which challenges him to keep his mind at bay and stay true to the spirit of the song. “I wanted to create a sonic soundscape that brings a person back to their source of peace and happiness,” Starita says. “With all of my music, I just begin playing an instrument and channel whatever flows through me at the time. In this case, it was a nylon string guitar I started playing in my living and recorded it on the spot. The message or spirit of the song is usually the next thing that surfaces. It became clear that this was a song about returning to the place where your spirit and mind feel most natural and at peace which is home – physically and spiritually. Many of my songs have field recordings that align with the composition, some of which may not even be audible but add a space to the piece that is felt rather than heard. My family and I often watch the sunrise over Bay St. Louis when I’m back home as it is one of the most peaceful experiences we experience together. So, one morning I recorded the waves as we sat in silence with the earth.” For Starita, this nostalgic moment with family in his hometown represents rest, ease, and comfort; a guiding force behind releasing this track at the beginning of the holiday season, as many return to their childhood homes or spend time with family. Yet during the holidays, the idea of home can be complicated for those who associate it with chaos, pain, and loss. The spiritual essence of ‘Home’ is a reminder for fans, even those with heavy hearts or those searching for a North Star to call home, that home isn’t necessarily a physical place, but a feeling born out of connecting with our true nature. “I hope after listening to this song, the listener feels a sense of letting go and returning to their true home of happiness and deep peace,” Starita says. Wolf agrees, “My hope is that every listener can feel peace, feel seen and have faith that their inner soul is not only loved, but feels like home.”
After Starita channels his music, the music creation process continues in the studio as he builds it. “My love for blending electronic elements with acoustic instruments is very clear in this song. In ‘Home,’ I knew I wanted it to expand into a sort of wash or drone representing the arrival of coming home. So, I began to layer analog synths with different tonal qualities to accomplish this. It can be tricky because you can’t just use any sound. You have to design each sound to fill a spot in the frequency spectrum so it doesn’t turn into a mess of instruments all trying to occupy one space.” For the lyrics and vocals, he collaborated with Wolf remotely. “The lyrics revealed themselves to me, mainly inspired by the guitar. I recorded a rough idea of the feeling at my home studio and we began building remotely,” Wolf says. “I remember most of the lyrics flowing naturally with the first takes. He heard various ways to play and suggested ideas with the additional vocals, and then Starita did his magic on the production of this track.”
Starita also produces his own music, and to bring ‘Home’ to final production vision, he trusted a colleague with that task. “When it comes to producing your own music, sometimes it’s good to hand it off to someone else to bring the vision to fruition. In this case, I handed it over to my dear brother, Greg Papania (Echoes Of Starlight), to complete the mix,” Starita says. “I’ve always loved working with Greg and he consistently brings an amazing spirit and light to everything he touches.”
The full production team on ‘Home’ include – Starita, songwriter, producer, engineer, piano, synths; Destani Wolf, lead vocalist and songwriter, BraveWolf Studios, CA, recorded vocals, Greg Papania, mix engineer, Nick Townsend, mastering engineer @ Infrasonic Sound, Tam Akiko, creative direction, photography and cinematography. The album was recorded at The Pearl on Peachtree Studios, Jackson, MS. Released by Be Still Records, a division of Starita Music.
Starita’s ‘Home’ feat. Destani’s Piece (by Destani Wolf) will be available across all digital service providers on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. For a complete list of all upcoming performances and events, visit www.staritamusic.com and https://www.destaniwolf.com/, respectively.
ABOUT STARITA:
Starita, is a Mississippi born, 2-time GRAMMY®/Latin Grammy recognized multi-talented artist, songwriter, and producer whose work spans a multitude of genres. Known for his work and unexpected collaborations with Childish Gambino, A Tribe Called Quest, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Third Eye Blind, Madame Gandhi, Rebelution, Los Amigos Invisibles, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and many others, he offers a unique genre blending style incorporating electronic elements blended with live instrumentation that stems from his deep roots in electronic, dance, ambient, and classical music. Fans are often pleasantly surprised by the unexpected outcome; an out-of-the box production resulting in a lush yet complex soundscape. Starita’s collaborations have reached #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, earned RIAA Gold certification, won the GRAMMY® for Best New Age, nominated for Best Latin Urban/Alternative and Song Of The Year in the Latin Grammy Awards, and much more.
ABOUT DESTANI WOLF:
Destani Wolf, a genre-defying powerhouse vocalist, emerged on the scene at 15, gracing the iconic Great American Music Hall and later becoming the lead vocalist for Cirque du Soleil‘s “BAZZAR.” Raised in Berkeley, California, she cultivated her distinctive Cali-soul sound influenced by Latin music, blues, and hip-hop. In addition to her debut LP ‘Again and Again,’ Destani has contributed to over 40 albums with artists like Crown City Rockers, John Santos, Matisyahu, and The Pharcyde. As the lead singer for the Afro-Latin hip-hop group O-maya and a member of SoVosó, Destani performed nationally and globally. She was a featured artist on a 2 GRAMMY-nominated Latin Jazz LP, earned an Independent Music Award for her nu-soul EP ‘Peak Away,’ and has contributed to TV/film soundtracks, including Disney’s “The Descendants” and HBO’s “Momentum Generation.” Embracing music’s power to foster empathy, her single, ‘White Water Tumbling,’ embodies resilience and hope in folk-soul style. Destani’s latest project Destani’s Piece, uses healing frequencies and binaural beats as musical mindfulness in the hopes of encouraging transformative change and inner peace. Destani is also working on a new collection of original songs while contributing to diverse projects such as Bobby McFerrin‘s MOTION and touring with Bandaloop Aerial Dance Company.