On its surface, Leyla McCalla’s upcoming album ‘Breaking The Thermometer’ explores the legacy of Radio Haiti—Haiti’s first radio station to report the news in Haitian Kreyòl, the voice of the people—as well as the journalists who risked and lost their lives to broadcast it for nearly 50 years. But on a more fundamental level, the collection is a deeply personal reckoning with memory and identity, with the roles of artists and activists and immigrants in modern society, with the very notion of storytelling itself.
Originally a song by Brazilian artist Caetano Veloso, McCalla has shared her version of “You Don’t Know Me” today; Veloso wrote the Tropicália tune in 1971 after he was exiled to London and the track explores the loneliness of exile and the isolation from Brazilian culture that he felt at the time. Listen to it below.
“There’s a line in the song that says, ‘there’s nothing you can show me from behind the wall’, and it reminds me of not only the figurative walls that we put up when we can’t empathize with people from other cultures but also of the rhetoric surrounding the wall between the US and Mexico, a reminder that these issues have always been part of the conversation about immigration in the Western world,” McCalla explains. “The sentiments in the song mirror a lot of the feelings shared and documented about exile Radio Haiti’s journalists.”
Born out of a multi-disciplinary theater project commissioned by Duke University, which acquired the complete Radio Haiti archives in 2016, ‘Breaking The Thermometer’ combines original compositions and traditional Haitian tunes with historical broadcasts and contemporary interviews to forge an immersive sonic journey through a half century of racial, social, and political unrest. The music is captivating, fueled by rich, sophisticated melodic work and intoxicating Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and the juxtaposition of voices—English and Kreyòl, personal and political, anecdotal and journalistic—is similarly entrancing, raising the dead as it shines a light on the enduring spirit of the Haitian people. McCalla isn’t just some detached observer here, though; she writes with great insight and introspection, examining her own journey of growth and self-discovery as she uncovers the Radio Haiti story and the inextricable ties that bind us all to it.
“While many of the songs on the album are inspired by the listening that I have done in the archive, much of the album is deeply self-reflective – integrating experiences that I have had navigating life as a child both in the US and Haiti, my journey in claiming my Haitian-American identity and understanding the experiences, sacrifices and challenges overcome by my immigrant relatives,” McCalla said.
Russia’s current war on Ukraine should also serve as a reminder that anyone can be a refugee, anyone can be exiled, and that refugee crises can happen anywhere and to anyone. The resistance to Russian annexation of Ukraine is not so far from the somewhat unfulfilled promise of the Haitian revolution, where Haiti strives to be recognized as a sovereign state whose citizens control their own affairs.
“Jean Dominique described the media as the “thermometer of the Haitian people”, which is how ‘Breaking the Thermometer’ got its name,” McCalla emphasized. “Watching the news and hearing how so many Russian media are being shut down for using the words “war” and “conflict” feels very similar to the censorship of media in Haiti during the Duvalier regime. Seeing this exodus from Ukraine makes us realize how much all refugees have in common, fleeing violence and seeking safe haven. This brings to mind that by the time there is a refugee crisis, there has been a lot of repression and violence that we have not been paying attention to.”
Pre-Order ‘Breaking The Thermometer’
1. Nan Fon Bwa
2. Fort Dimanche
3. Bon Appétit Messieurs
4. Le Bal est Fini
5. Dan Reken
6. Dodinin
7. Ekzile
8. Pouki
9. You Don’t Know Me
10. Jean and Michele
11. Vini Wè
12. Artibonite
13. Still Looking
14. Memory Song
15. Boukman’s Prayer
https://leylamccalla.com/
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