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These days, you’ll be hard pushed to find escape from the rat race without enduring the prospect of quinoa, guttural chanting, and frantic yoga in sweaty heated rooms led by smug contented weirdoes called ’fern’ and ’Piper’. To top that off, you’ll pay through the nose for the pleasure, and most of it is rubbish perpetuated by celeb crazes, the latest being knitting.
Or, if you really wanted to, you could do something natural for yourself that’s been healing people since the dawn of time, it’s used to express faith, unity, political beliefs, celebration and identity, with aims ranging from the seriousness of revolution against apartheid to just having a bit of a laugh with some mates in a poky room.
For god’s sake, pull yourselves together, get the self help books, yoga mat and jossticks on Ebay and join a choir. Yes, you did read that right….
I know, you’re thinking the last thing you want to do is fumble your way through a yellowing vocal score of ‘Abide with Me’, surrounded by old ladies in massive cardigans that smell like moths, but hey, if its good enough for Gwynnie, than to hell with it, but if so you’ve got the wrong end of the conductor’s stick.
The Heard is a contemporary choir for the contemporary people of London. They’re not looking to ancient eastern spirituality to get a natural high, they’re just singing their favorite songs together in perfect harmony for kicks. Ranging from Lawyers to comediennes, people from all over London gather together in a rehearsal room on a weekday evening to laugh, sing choral arrangements of hits from the likes of Radiohead, Massive Attack and Lamb. In the break they eat biscuits and talk about work, life, family and even go down the boozer for a swift one afterwards…what the hell, they’ve earned it after a two hour rehearsal.
If countless studies, experiments and tests are correct, two hours of choral singing will leave you with the mental clarity of Ghandi (ok, that’s an exaggeration, but I’m a singer and by nature, a total drama queen)
Studies have proven over centuries that choral singing has a vast plethora of benefits, from greatly increased secretion of anti-depressant hormones, to regulating breathing, from new friendships and a sense of community, to a cure for snoring. Singing brings people together and it makes you feel good, fact. But simplicity sets ‘The Heard’ apart from other pursuits. You don’t need special equipment, you don’t have to do it in the rain, it doesn’t hurt and it definitely doesn’t taste like sawdust.
