How Could We Ever Know by SIRMA is the result of a trip home to Istanbul for a vocal production workshop that turned into an extended stay due to a New York travel ban. With a long term partner back in the States and mounting uncertainty, she took to an array of old and broken equipment and even her mom’s car speakers to conjure this piece.
“I don’t handle ambiguity so well, and there’s a part of me that wants to control whatever I can in my life,” explains SIRMA. “This crisis drove me into a panic one day and I realized, I was trying to control our relationship, too. There was nothing I could do, but I had a picture in my head, a scenario, about how we should be handling this. It took me a minute to realize that we just had to take this one day at a time. He helped me see my flawed logic, so I sang to him.”
How Could We Ever Know is minimal and raw. SIRMA’s crystalline vocals shine beyond the unknown as muted horns against hand drums create brilliant depth with a tincture of hope.