by Ben Hogwood Picture (c) Assiah Alcázar

Arcana are delighted to present a playlist from the Spanish cellist, singer and producer Yamila, who is on the verge of releasing her new album Noor, due on 6 February through Mexico City label Umor Rex.

Noor is a work with intertwined strings and electronics, sculpting landscapes where, in the words of the press release, “listening expands toward territories of dusky beauty. The album was born under the shelter of a secret ecological community. There, among damp meadows and the song of a blackbird, Yamila feels an ancient urge—to sing to the bees. Inspired by ancestral rituals in which sound served as a bridge between species—to summon herds or soothe the trembling sky – the artist listens to the wind and reimagines that lost practice through a contemporary language: titanic harmonies dissolving into fragile microtones, rhythms that pulse not merely as measure, but as breath that stirs the body.”

This playlist could be subtitled Cello and Beyond, for on it Yamila curates an hour of listening bringing the instrument into healthy contrast with sounds around. You can listen on Spotify here:

Noor will be reviewed soon on Arcana.

Published post no.2,780 – Tuesday 27 January 2026