A group of top international musicians have come together to create Peace Tracks, a new album that celebrates UN International Day of Peace on 21 September. Notable collaborators include ABBA, Syrian composer Nahel Al Halabi and Philip Glass.
The project is coordinated by International Alert (IA), a UK charity that helps people around the globe find peaceful resolutions to conflicts.
‘Collaboration is key to music making, but it’s also integral to peace building,’ said Ilaria Bianchi, head of communications at IA. ‘Through this project, we hope to demonstrate the opportunities that music and technology open up for building new relationships across borders and cultures, and sparking conversations about important global issues.’
Peace Tracks can be downloaded for free from IA’s website, and features compositions from Philip Glass (Coupé in the Key of C Minor), ABBA (Soldiers 2015) and Nahel Al Halabi (Jusoor). Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler and Duran Duran’s Roger Taylor have also contributed tracks. Ravi Shankar’s daughter Anoushka Shankar worked with a group of musicians from Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela on the song Madre De La Vida.
‘From the earliest Sabbath stuff, I’ve written lyrics about the grim reality of war,’ said Butler. ‘Peace Tracks can hopefully bring more people around the world to think about peace.’
The album release coincides with IA’s Talking Peace Festival 2015, a series of art, comedy, food, photography and culture events happening in London this September and October.
IA are currently working on Syrian Platform for Peace, which attempts to engage Syrian’s living in the UK in the peace process for Syria. They also have ongoing projects in Mogadishu, Georgia and dozens of other countries around the world.
