Seven Rare Deems: SSE Commission Alex Menzies for Nordoff Robbins' 20th Anniversary

In Nordoff Robbins Scotland's 20th Year, headline sponsor of the SSE Scottish Music Awards, SSE has commissioned Scottish musician and composer Alex Menzies (aka Alex Smoke) to create a piece of music using sounds recorded from a series of music therapy sessions.

Menzies speaks of his experience at the sessions held in Aberdeen’s Alzheimer Scotland centre: “It was just a very positive experience. Human interaction is what I like, so it was just an enjoyable thing to do, enjoyable to meet people and enjoyable to record music in that kind of way. It's a very different environment from what I'm used to, so it was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Menzies spent the day with SSE funded therapist Lizzie Sharpe at her various sessions. The sessions ranged from one-to-one therapy where Sharpe accompanied singers on the piano, to group percussion sessions. “We had one session with Donna, who is very young,” recalls Menzies, “She’s only 39 and she's got early onset Alzheimer’s – you just don't even think of that as being a possibility - she was singing. There was also a woman called Grace, who was playing the piano, I included some of her piano and also some kalimba from her. And the rest had a lot of instruments, so everyone who we recorded was included on the track somewhere.”

The track takes its name from these recording sessions. Seven Rare Deems translates quite literally from Doric as ‘Seven Excellent Woman’, Menzies explains: “one of the women, called Mabel spoke a lot in Doric, and my girlfriend is from Buckie, so I've got a soft spot for Doric.” The song title is a tribute from Menzies to the six inspirational women he worked with during the sessions and their music therapist Sharpe. 

Seven Rare Deems is an incredibly beautiful, soothing, uplifting and atmospheric composition, capturing the energy and freedom that Nordoff Robbins Scotland provides beneficiaries through their music therapy sessions on a daily basis.

As Scotland’s only music therapy charity, Nordoff Robbins Scotland make a huge and meaningful difference to adults and children across the country: “It's interesting because music therapy covers this huge realm of things.” Menzies explains, “I mean music is such a big subject in general, and the way different people are affected by music can be hugely varied. Alzheimer sufferers tend to benefit from recognition, they may have lost everything. They may not even remember their family, but funnily, you can still remember tunes, whereas children with learning disabilities might benefit from particular sounds, like a soothing sound.”

“I like the idea of music being for a purpose, as opposed to throw away music just for entertainment. And because society as a whole is even more throw away than ever, music has got this funny position now where its background noise. It's on everything and everybody makes music and the currency has been wiped out to a certain extent, so it's nice to have music with meaning; to have music with a purpose. It's a good thing.”

Music therapy can play a crucial role in changing lives for the better and Nordoff Robbins Scotland partner SSE are incredibly proud to support the growth and profile of the services offered by the charity. Without SSE’s contribution, there would be no music therapy in the North West.

Seven Rare Deems, SSE’s specially commissioned track by renowned Scottish musician and composer, Alex Menzies, can be downloaded now, with all profits from the single going to Nordoff Robbins Scotland.