System of a Down vocalist Serj Tankian is gearing up to release a new folk/classical track titled “Amber” this Wednesday (8th). The song is sung in his native Armenian language featuring additional vocals from Armenian singer Sevak Amroyan and was written with his cultural homeland in mind. “Amber,” pronounced ‘ahm-be’r’ translates to “clouds” in Armenian, and you can pre-save the single at this location. The music video for the upcoming single, directed by Hrag Yedalian, is now available.
Tankian comments:
“’Amber’ was written in 2017 after I visited Armenia along with my friends Atom & Arsinee Egoyan and Eric Nazarian as members of the coalition ‘Justice For Armenia’ to serve as election monitors for the Parliamentary elections. I was so distraught by the slick theft of the elections before ever reaching the ballot box that I wrote this song as a response. The lyrics however seem to be more poignant today when Armenians are divided politically and socially following the devastating attack on Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia by Azerbaijan and Turkey in 2020 and the continuous fallout over negotiations with those two dictatorial regimes. ‘Amber’s’ message is that of unity and harmony. Those are the only truly powerful weapons of the Armenian nation.”
On collaborating with Amroyan, Tankian explains:
“Sevak’s voice has a unique strength harking back to our people’s native lands. I loved listening to his songs like ‘Yarkhushta’ so when we met I was excited to work on something with him.”
Amroyan comments:
“NaturalIy, I have listened to Serj Tankian’s music since childhood and always with a sense of pride. After getting acquainted with him, I realized that in addition to being an iconic musician he’s also a very proud Armenian. I am happy about our collaboration and thankful to Serj that we’re singing ‘Amber’ together. It’s a great honor for me.”
Watch the clip below:
