Requiem for the Impossible soundtrack released after acclaimed worldwide Cape Town debut

The full Requiem for the Impossible soundtrack is now available, following the music and interactive technology project’s acclaimed world premiere in Cape Town.

Lucy Kruger (South Africa) and Liú Mottes (Netherlands) have composed an entirely original musical score for Requiem for the Impossible which launched with a limited run of four performances at the Homecoming Centre in District Six mod-February. The near sold-out run of shows was supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in South Africa. The requiem was universally heralded by audience members as a deeply emotional and affecting piece of work that brings grief to the forefront, but is ultimately an uplifting experience. 

Requiem for the Impossible tells the story of the disappearance of three South African working sailors - skipper Anthony Murray, first mate Reginald Robertson and young deckhand Jaryd Payne - in the Indian Ocean in 2015. A story born out of love and an unquenchable yearning for answers, it sees Kruger and Mottes blend their score with new lyrics, documentary-style voice recordings made by Murray during several ocean voyages before the fated final voyage in 2014/2015 and poetry written by the skipper’s brother, Jay Savage.

Kruger, who fronts Berlin-based art pop noise project Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys, describes the creation of the soundtrack as “a big responsibility”.  

“I have never done anything like this before and wasn’t sure how it would be as I usually write from a place of personal experience,” says Kruger, referring to the songs on her band’s slate of critically acclaimed albums that includes 2024’s A Human Home. “But in the sharing of Jay’s poems and the recordings that Anthony had made, and in absorbing the story, it was amazing to feel how that could be translated musically.”

Kruger adds that working on Requiem potently reflects what she believes music is about - “which is creating room to feel”. “This project is really doing that - taking a story and drawing on its atmosphere to create a way for people to come together and feel something. It is a very heavy topic but there is something quite life-affirming about it.”

For Mottes, Requiem provided her with an interesting and new way to work as a musician. “For starters it is a deeply personal, true story and we felt we needed to handle that carefully and lovingly. There were also a bunch of creators working on different aspects of the project and, even though we had a lot of building blocks to work with, no one knew what the piece was supposed to be at the outset of the collaboration. But once everyone began to work on their aspect of it, and once Lucy and I got close to the theme and the story and listened to Anthony’s voice recordings, we began the process of creation. From there it just unfolded on its own and became what audiences and listeners will now experience.”

Requiem for the Impossible is a project by Amsterdam-based creative studio, affect lab and was produced in Cape Town in collaboration with The Good Times Co. Each performance includes a novel interaction element through a dedicated phone app that allows the audience to be part of co-creating the moving and immersive experience. 

Requiem for the Impossible is supported by AFK (Amsterdam Fund of the Arts), Creative Industries Fund NL and Stichting Stimuleringsfonds Rouw.

First single “Bring Me In” and the full soundtrack are released through The Good Times Co.

Listen to the soundtrack here: https://orcd.co/rfti

Credits:

Writer and project initiator
 - Diane Coetzer

Poet, narrative and lyrics - Jay Savage

Voicenotes - Anthony Murrary

Musical score - Lucy Kruger & Liú Mottes

Lyrics - Lucy Kruger

Produced & Mixed by Andre Leo 

Mastered by Tim Lengfeld

Narrative & research direction - Natalie Dixon

Interactive design & concept - Klasien van de Zandschulp

Creative producer - Juliette Brederode

Technical producer - Blaise Janichon

Creative coding -  Luciano Pinna

Performance visuals - Sebastiaan Smink, Lukas Ruhoff

Visual identity - Jana & Koos

Requiem for the Impossible is a project by affect lab

Released by The Good Times Co.