Technology has enabled singers to record together without ever being in the same room. Strange Voices is another such remote group: according to the group's Facebook page, the idea was hatched in 2014. Now, three years later, a song has been recorded, edited, and mixed using voices from around the globe. The group represented in this recording is a 10-person mixed ensemble that blends together beautifully.

The group's song Here's to Life is gorgeous. It's not as jazzy as the Shirley Horn version; Strange Voices' cover sounds more like a musical theatre piece than a sparse jazz number. But the precision and dynamics are present, making it an engaging song that gains momentum even without vocal percussion. It also works beautifully as an ensemble piece: the lead switches across groups of singers, but there's no single soloist, which makes the recording seem even more like a group collaboration. These voices meld so well on this arrangement (by the talented Line Groth Riis of Postyr and Vocal Line) that it's hard to believe it wasn't all recorded together by singers in the same room.

Here's to Life is an auspicious start for Strange Voices, and I hope it doesn't take another three years(!) to hear the next recording from these international singers.