Naga musicians unite for new ‘song of hope’ amid COVID-19, releasing tomorrow

Kohima: Popular Naga musician Nise Meruno has collaborated with prominent artistes of Nagaland such as Abdon Mech, Imliakum Aier, Iuli Yepthomi, Tokaholi Chishi and Theja Khate for a new song, which is all set to be released at 7 pm on June 12.

On Friday, Meruno revealed that the new song is titled (For)Ever Joy, saying that it is a “song of hope”. “As we are all going through a difficult time, we hope that this song will be a source of hope and encouragement that all is not lost,” he said.

While hoping that the song will help “people look beyond division and embrace one another with love”, Meruno also shared his excitement in collaborating with other Naga musicians.

“It has truly been a dream for me to do a collective project with these amazing artistes. Interestingly, this is coming into fruition during an interesting time such as this. Each person involved in this song of hope holds a special place in my heart, not only for the talents they possess, but more so because of the beautiful hearts they carry,” Meruno added.

Singer-songwriter Abdon Mech, who is also part of the collaboration, said: “It was refreshing how each one of us in this project is so different. But as artistes, we came together for art, brushing aside our artistic preferences.”

The young musician added: “I’m quite positive that we’ve learnt a lot by stepping out of our comfort zones and doing something different.”

Mech said that the music video will be premiered on YouTube under the channel ‘Silent Reverie’ and it will also be followed by distribution to other streaming services.

With the new song all set to release in a day, the artistes revealed that it is especially dedicated to their close friend Vitsizolie Nagi, who passed away in April this year. Through the song, the team will also pay a tribute to the deceased, who had “brought a lot of joy to everyone around him”, by releasing it on the second month’s death anniversary.

Also read: ‘No mask, no movement’: What is allowed during extended lockdown in Nagaland

(For)Ever Joy has been composed by Meruno and produced by renowned violinist Nourhe Khate. Meruno also co-wrote the song with Theja Khate. The team expressed gratitude to minister of technical education and tribal affairs Temjen Imna Along for coming forward to be the patron of the project, without whose support, the team said that it would not have been possible.

Following the total lockdown in March last year, Meruno had also launched the first-ever ‘Nagaland Virtual Choir’ with various other artistes from the state sending messages of hope to people around the world through music.