I fell in love with Maltese musicians; not the traditional folk genre Ghana, but the modern musicians. Not widely acclaimed on the world music scene, nonetheless I love listening to the rock, and pop pumping out of Malta.
Living in Malta introduced me to a side of the culture I did not know existed. Whether opening for international acts or headlining the local scene, the artists bring a new dimension to experiencing the culture when visiting Malta. Having seen several of the musicians live in concert has only deepened my appreciation of their talent.
The connection has been maintained, following bands such a Red Electric and Airport Impressions, and checking in on the scene via online Maltese news journals. Whenever I hear of a new release, whether it is a single or an album, I always check it out.
Having seen Red Electric multiple times, on the stage at the Farson beer festival, up close in Hastings Garden for the Marsovin Food and Wine Festival, even outside a bar on a steamy summer night in Naxxar. Each time they were great to experience, inspiring me to closely follow their music.
When I am writing, especially about Malta, I like to put on a mix of music from my favourite Maltese musicians, with Red Electric featuring prominently. When writing my novel, The Maltese Web, I could not find a scene to include Red Electric. However, when I was writing and needed to feel the vibe of the island for certain scenes I could hear them as the soundtrack of my imaginary movie version of my book.
One of the other artists we became across in Malta and were captivated by, was Ira Losco. Her music and image seemed everywhere and for good reason.
A legend of the local scene she has represented Malta at the Eurovision Song contest twice, coming second overall in 2002 and twelfth on 2016. On Maltese radio, she was on high rotation and when driving through the island in our little Toyota one of her accessible and catchy pop songs would inevitably come across the airwaves. We were also able to catch her live twice, each time she pumped up the crowd with her high energy performance. Her presence on the radio and those performances stuck in my mind. And I did find a scene in the book to present Ira Losco!
In writing The Maltese Web I wanted to convey the landscape of Malta, which from the first time I flew into the island captivated me – it was very different to what I had seen, experienced or expected. Driving through the townships, cities and country side with the radio playing brought an extra dimension to my Malta experiences. I wove these descriptions of Marica travelling from one place to the next. Of course, she would have the radio on in the car and who had to be on the radio – Ira Losco.
In the following scene Marica is driving through the congested morning traffic, a constant bane of Maltese life, to an important meeting at the police headquarters. She is expecting a breakthrough with the involvement of the police special Financial Crimes Unit. With the car radio tuned to the popular local radio music station Bay897, an Ira Losco song plays.
Radio BAY897 fills the car’s cabin with Ira Losco’s voice. The latest hit from the local pop idol has me singing along. The song finishes as I park at the police headquarters.
I stride across the stone pavement that leads to the front of the two-story building inside the sprawling police compound. The bottom floor is a whitewashed stone and the top floor a honey limestone, a common colour amongst the island buildings.
Her hopes were high. But did the expected breakthrough eventuate?
Find out in The Maltese Web, a thriller set amidst the stunning architecture and rich culture of Malta, that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
Find The Maltese Web here in kindle and paperback
I would like you to hear for yourself a sample of the best from Malta’s music scene. Here is with an excerpt from my playlist, with songs from the three artists mentioned earlier.
