Not so long ago we saw the international release of the album “ 16 Haiku & Other Stories “ by the band SIGMATROPIC. Collections of poems by Nobel laureate George Seferis grace the sensual sounds of this soundtrack-like hour long sprawl. Eighteen guest musicians appear on this historic gathering and each vocalise their favourite poem to the backdrop of SIGMATROPIC. Some outstanding & diverse guests such as Robert Wyatt, Cat Power, Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Howe Gelb, Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) & Mark Eitzel compliment an awesome line up from both sides of the Atlantic. Akis Boyatzis is the force behind SIGMATROPIC who put this English album version as a complimentary version to the original project – of the same material – that came out in Greek. The poet upon whose work the album is based, George Seferis, was born at the turn of the last century and was a Literature Nobel Prize winner. His early work explored a way of rendering the Japanese tradition of the Haiku poetry into a European framework. “ 16 Haiku & Other Stories “ is a unique album project that has brought many diverse musicians from far-flung corners of the world to sing on a piece of music that is removed from their customary craft. The chilled Ambient Electronica soundscapes that embrace the sung poetry has been universally praised with all 21 Poetry tracks on the album having been played on radio stations around the world. When the 18 guest vocalists were approached to participate on this album, some were so impressed & excited with the material that they contributed their vocals to more tracks instead of one! From the “ treasure trove “ of the rich overflow of vocal takes we can now present a great 12-inch EP called “ Could That Be The Voice? “. On this EP 5 Haiku versions are performed by SIGMATROPIC together with 4 guest artists that appeared on “ 16 Haiku & Other Stories “ each singing on tracks from the album they did NOT vocalise themselves on the original offering. On this balanced EP there are two tracks from MARK MULCAHY, and one each from CARLA TORGERSON (Walkabouts), EDITH FROST & JAMES WILLIAM HINDLE. MARK MULCAHY starts each side of this EP with two high tempo offerings “ Haiku One “ & “ Haiku Four “. The latter is the only track that is an “ extended remix “. Both tracks feature some sublime rhythm beats with a taste of Mediterranean “ folktronica “. CARLA TORGERSON’S version is “ Haiku10 “, features an outstanding and unforgettable New Order-ish intro. JAMES WILLIAM HINDLE is the sole UK representative on this EP, and he vocalises a spiralling & hypnotic “ Haiku 15 “. EDITH FROST ends the affair with an icy, twisted & haunting rendition of “ Haiku 11 “. For those who have not yet plunged into this musical odyssey “ Could That Be The Voice? “ is an excellent value 12-inch introduction to the awesome album by SIGMATROPIC “ 16 Haiku & Other Stories “. For the initiated, this is another chance to marvel at this beautiful music but with the rare new vocal versions. On limited edition 12-inch 180 gsm vinyl only.