Music and aquatic experts have joined forces to pay collective homage to the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with a track made entirely from fishy sound samples.
- The track comprises sounds made entirely by fish.
- Each fish hails from a competing Eurovision country.
- We’re pleased to report it’s unexpectedly catchy.
- Listen to the track below.
This weekend the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 arrives just an hour down the M62 motorway from us in Liverpool. To celebrate the first UK-hosted Eurovision since 1998, Sea Life London and the University of Bristol have joined forces to create something decidedly fishy in musical homage.
Mixed at the world-famous Abbey Road studios in London, the result is a music track titled EuroFISHion. We’re more than pleased to report that it’s surprisingly good and, in true Eurovision fashion, unexpectedly catchy!
To create the track, Sea Life London enlisted the help of Professor Steve Simpson, a marine biologist, fish ecologist, and researcher from the University of Bristol. Professor Simpson and University of Bristol student Emily Lane captured underwater sounds recorded using hydrophones to form the basis of EuroFISHion.
These sounds were recorded at the Sea Life London Aquarium on the South Bank of the River Thames in the heart of the UK’s capital. Furthermore, all the recordings came from aquariums housing fish hailing from countries competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Among the various fish recorded were the gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata).
Sparus aurata is common in the Mediterranean Sea and many coastal regions of Europe’s northern Atlantic Ocean. Also featured are clownfish from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, believed to be Amphiprion akindynos – the Barrier Reef clownfish. Oz became eligible to compete in Eurovision in 2015 to commemorate the song contest’s 60th anniversary and its massive popularity Down Under.
Clips recorded, Professor Steve Simpson, University of Bristol student Emily Lane, and staff from Sea Life London headed to Abbey Road studios, where its globally renowned team of Grammy award-winning engineers worked their magic.
The result feels like a genuine Eurovision hit, albeit lacking the usual cheesy vocals, being instrumental only. “EuroFISHion is a real earworm,” says Professor Simpson. “Ever since I heard the final cut, I can’t get it out of my head!”
Listen to EuroFISHion:
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 takes place this Saturday, the 13th of May, at 8pm, live in Liverpool at the city’s waterfront M&S Bank Arena.