As far as Shakespeare adaptations go, Mryta’s new single is about as true to the source material as you could hope for.
Myrta has released her new single, Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer Day?. Every bit as Shakespearean as its title suggests, the piano-driven epic opens with twinkling keys and shimmering production, setting the stage for Myrta’s enrapturing vocals.
Fittingly, Myrta pulls the track’s lyrics from Shakespere’s famous Sonnet 18, making for a truly poetic and lyrical listening experience.
Given its subject matter, it would be easy for Myrta to slip into a cliched adaptation of the world’s most famous playwright, but the multi-instrumentalist and singer instead manages to bring a fresh energy to the source material.
The brooding piano immediately affords Shall I a theatrical quality, to the point where you can almost picture it forming the soundtrack of one of Shakespeare’s more captivating scenes.
While Myrta’s keys rightfully take centre stage — flitting between moments of introspection and euphoria — she’s equally interested in the surrounding instrumentation.
Here, the singer makes expert use of sporadic and glittering chimes, giving Shall I a distinctly regal aesthetic. What begins as a powerful ballad later transforms into something more anthemic, as the piano gradually crescendos in keeping with the sonnet’s most climactic moment.
Mryta is helped along by blissful cello sections and Michael Gramm’s marching band-like drum rolls, with both instruments adding a majestic flair.
Through it all, it’s Myrta’s voice that shines the brightest, possessing a classical and operatic quality reminiscent of Renée Fleming.
Commanding and angelic in equal measure, Mryta’s vocal delivery is the perfect accompaniment to an already euphonious track, with the deep backing vocals adding richness to her range.
Such sonic beauty is befitting of a song whose source material recounts Shakespeare’s experience with love, and Myrta possesses a clear ability to translate poetry into song.
Myrta is the pseudonym of conductor and singer Martina Stoye. Alongside Shall I, Stoye has shared the 2022 singles The Willow Tree and The Silver Swan.
Listen to the Shakespearean odyssey that is Myrta’s new single Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day? below.
