Hearing In Colour

Album: Hana (2023)
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Songfacts®:

  • Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory pathway. People who report a lifelong history of such experiences are known as synesthetes. Synesthesia is not a disease or a medical condition, but rather a variation in how the brain processes sensory information.

    There are many different types of synesthesia, including chromesthesia where people hear sounds as colors. Sophie Ellis-Bextor's producer, Ed Harcourt, has this condition. "When he plays chords he can see colors and days of the week," the singer told The Sun. "And I'm really fascinated by that idea. There is even something called mirror synaesthesia where someone can feel someone else being touched."
  • Other musicians who are synesthetes include Coldplay's Chris Martin, Pharrell Williams, John Mayer, Lorde and Charli XCX.
  • Sophie Ellis-Bextor recorded "Hearing In Colour" for her seventh studio album, Hana, which is the Japanese word for blossom. The feverish dream-like song is one of several inspired by a 2020 trip Ellis-Bextor made to Japan just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Musically, she sought to create a fantastical world for the album inspired by her time in the Far Eastern country.
  • Ed Harcourt plays the piano on the track. The other musicians are:

    Simon Byrt: synthesizer
    Richard Jones: bass guitar
    Pablo Tato: electric guitar
    Jackson Ellis-Leach: drums

    Richard Jones is the bassist of the rock-pop group The Feeling and Ellis-Bextor's husband. They met when he auditioned for her tour band in 2002.

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