Teanga Teanga on Reinventing "Around The World" Into Their Own Cinematic Universe
Pamela Sue Mann and Paul Murphy discuss long-distance collaboration, vintage gear, cinematic influences, creative trust, and the making of their dreamlike new single, "Around The World".
The transatlantic collaboration between New York singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and poet Pamela Sue Mann and Dublin composer-producer Paul Murphy (pxmurphy) exists somewhere between dream-pop, ambient electronica, classic cinema, and theatrical storytelling. Their latest single, "Around The World", transforms the beloved Nat King Cole standard into something entirely different: a shimmering meditation on memory, longing, time, and finding home in unexpected places.
In our conversation, Pamela and Paul take us behind the making of the song, revealing how a long-distance creative partnership thrives on experimentation, vintage synths, homemade vocal instruments, and the willingness to surprise one another. They discuss the unexpected magic that turned a cover into something unmistakably their own, the books and films that shaped its atmosphere, the realities of creating music from opposite sides of the Atlantic, and why building a genuine connection with listeners matters far more than chasing numbers.
Chris Roditis, Musicngear: "Around The World" is tied to a very specific era and emotional atmosphere. Was there a moment during the recording when you realized you had stopped making a cover and had created something that felt unmistakably like Teanga Teanga? What was that turning point?
Pamela Sue Mann: Full disclosure… We (Paul X Murphy and I) had been discussing the idea of (a) Teanga Teanga “Nostalgia Core,” the intersection of the sweetness of memory and the at-times dystopian hard-edged modern age. Paul suddenly recalled he had, some time ago, started a 4/4 (time signature) track of the Victor Young and Harold Adamson song “Around the World” made famous by the inimitable Nat King Cole (originally a 3/4 time waltz).
He sent it (to) me, just a track with a mini me chorus of Paul singing the hook, and I instantly became enthralled and inspired.
I felt our Teanga version wanted to be truly evocative and danceable, seamless, so I added my instrumental ideas, switched on my “sky mic” (Neumann old school U87), and began to fall in love with our version. I mean, the original is perfect; the sentiment is timeless, though I felt at that point we had found our own magic. I was dancing. There was no going back. We had to bring her home :).
Musicngear: Your music seems to move freely between 1950s cinema, 1970s pop sincerity, ambient electronica, and avant-garde influences. Are there any films, books, paintings, or non-musical experiences that shaped the sound or mood of this project?
Pamela Sue Mann: Yes! Jules Verne, Marlene Dietrich, Irwin Allen, Fred and Ginger, Dr Who, Roman Holiday, Jeannot Szwarc (Somewhere in Time), Dali with Disney, and Billy Wilder.
We are a great team, perpetually obsessively dedicated and committed to excavating and finding the gold
Musicngear: You created this single through experimentation and long-distance file sharing between New York and Dublin. Did either of you ever send the other something that felt completely unexpected at first, but ended up becoming an essential piece of the song?
Pamela Sue Mann: Paul is in Dublin, I am in New York. We co-produce, a true collaboration-we both compose, arrange, vocalise and play everything; it’s pretty straightforward. The most important thing is that we mutually like what we choose and end up with. We love surprises and often upend each other with unexpected parts, sounds, and bits - for example, the mad vocal characters I often introduce Paul to. He both tolerates and welcomes them.
In ATW, I specifically loved Paul’s theremin, his small chorus of gents singing the chorus part, and I found the strings he sent me of the main hook melody to be THE DIVA - the STAR of the show.
It’s a great pleasure and honor to make music this way with Paul; he’s so melodic…we are a great team, perpetually obsessively dedicated and committed to excavating and finding the gold.
Musicngear: Paul, as a composer, producer, and “studio rat”, what pieces of gear, instruments, software, or happy accidents played a key role in shaping the cinematic synths, spectral textures, and sweeping atmosphere of "Around The World"?
PXMurphy: Some “clumps” of tracks from particular eras, fed into infinite reverb mush, retain the mojo of their origin - I use this technique a lot. We have created vocal pads in Kontakt using our own voices (our “PAMTRON is a fav)
Pamela has been a “Roland Head” for many years. The JX8P, the JDXI. Pam and Gerry’s 1934 Steinway studio piano, and the holy grail, her vintage Neumann U87.
I also use a Neumann U87, which means our studio tones can be well matched. I also use my trusty Nord lead and a couple of Korgs to keep it out of the box, but I also love my software synths and modules - UVI Falcon - Absynth - Vienna Strings, and combining platforms to spike the creative process - mixing Reason, Ableton Live, and Logic all through a little SSL BigSix. We both start and finish with Pro Tools.
Musicngear: Pamela, Laurie Anderson once described your work as “a masterpiece,” and you both have collaborated with artists across very different musical worlds. Has there been a piece of creative advice or an unexpected lesson from another artist that still influences how you approach music today?
Pamela Sue Mann: Laurie Anderson is G-d. When she said that about my album, L’oeuf, and I felt I had died and gone to Heaven. I felt validated, bowled over.
I still struggle with confidence, but I am grateful. She is a genius. I bow to her.
I once had a dream that Suzanne Vega and I were swimming in a lake. She swam up to the boat dock, grabbed onto a wooden beam, turned around, and said to me, the words are the thing, and in so saying, she conveyed to me how important the responsible use of words is in telling a story. I believe that dream, and I’ve learned so much from her over the years. She really is a master of prose; she pulls you in, evocatively, visually, sensorily, and tells you a poignant tale or point of view. Just listen to Tom’s Diner or Queen and the Soldier.
The advice I take from these great works of art is… keep writing, keep playing, never stop.
Musicngear: Every artist encounters obstacles that audiences rarely see. Looking back on your journey together, what have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome as Teanga Teanga, and what advice would you offer musicians facing similar struggles?
PXMurphy: Our biggest challenge is the fact that we are on opposite sides of the Atlantic. We spend long hours on Zoom screen-sharing sessions. But this just becomes part of the palette - sometimes you point at a file section, forgetting that although the other can see the file, they cannot see you pointing at it! The other thing is the distance prohibits live work, but sure, we’ll see…
Just let everything inform the story as if this is what you planned all along - that’s my advice!
Although big streaming numbers are encouraging, finding an audience that appreciates our work is paramount
Musicngear: Many artists speak about songs as places rather than recordings. If listeners could physically step inside the world of “Around The World”, what would they find there? What does that landscape look, feel, or even smell like to you?
Pamela Sue Mann: I’ll tell you…One (our protagonist) is literally “time traveling” around a kitchy spinning globe (in black and white) with clouds wafting by. Like the Tardis, she has spent an eternity traversing romantic cities around the globe and beyond. In a sort of cosmic Noir expedition, she is sending out RKO electromagnetic radio wave signals to find her “true love,” but it’s all been a bit surreal and in vain.
Just as she’s exhausted her time travel and lost all hope (still in silver tone), suddenly (in a moment of awakening), she looks in the mirror and discovers that the ‘cream in her coffee’, the pulsing beat in her heart, has indeed always been with her, perhaps within her. It’s like Leave It to Beaver coming home, in black and white, then Technicolor.
And -the scene morphs- as the Paul X Murphy mini me chorus (replete with splendid black top hat and tails) descends from the top of the glamorous stairs of the Fontainebleau (I’ve been there), the Strings, dressed in a gorgeous white sequenced mermaid gown with giant feather cape gracefully follows, swanning down the steps - emphasizing the melodic hook, “I have found my world in you” thus validating her homecoming. There is much fanfare, revelry, confetti, and all is right with the world, a true old Hollywood Busby Berkeley ending.
Musicngear: What does success actually look like in your eyes? Are you focused on streaming numbers, live performances, press coverage, building a community around Teanga Teanga, or something entirely different? And how do you plan to bring those goals to life?
PXMurphy: As if we had a plan..! Teanga Teanga came about through conversations & shared curiosities. We’d like to share our work with as many like-minded souls as possible, so although big streaming numbers are encouraging, finding an audience that appreciates our work is paramount.
So.. press? yes. Community? Yes, please, and if something very different happens, we’ll be there with a surprised look on our faces and an idea for a new song.
Connect with Teanga Teanga
Instagram | Website
Connect with Pamela Sue Mann
Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp
Connect with PXMurphy
Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp
About Chris Roditis
Chris Roditis has been an active musician since 1995 in various bands and projects across a variety of genres ranging from acoustic, electronic to nu metal, british rock and trip hop. He has extensive experience as a mixing engineer and producer and has built recording studios for most of the projects he has been involved with. His passion for music steered his entrepreneurial skills into founding MusicNGear in 2012.
Contact Chris Roditis at chrisroditis@musicngear.com
In this section of the blog we host interviews with established but also up and coming artists we love and recommend as well as music industry professionals with tons of useful information to share.
Interested in an interview, writing a story as a guest or joining the Musicngear team as a Contributing Author? Contact us at info+blog@musicngear.com
