Robert Farrugia - Natura Maltija (2025)

"Offers something near holy and yet alien...An ambient evocation of nature in its habitat. Natura Maltija sounds at times like Brian Wilson, John Cage, Tangerine Dream, Harold Budd."
Monolith Cocktail

Maltese ambient artist Robert Farrugia's new soundtrack album provides a playful, ambient-inspired score of hardware synthesis and orchestral instrumentation to beautiful multi-part Maltese nature documentary Natura Maltija.

Employing orchestral instrumentation alongside electronic, the record is as lively, unique, and delicate as Malta’s fertile but isolated natural ecosystem. Throughout, nimble piano motifs flutter atop strings, synth drones, and arpeggiation in deft and elegant symbiosis..

Poignant and melancholic moments highlight the challenges facing Malta’s ecosystems, while also evoking wonder and playfulness to celebrate its beauty.

The score marries traditional and organic orchestration with contemporary ambient-aligned sound design to support the narrative of the documentary series - itself a rare and deeply engaging longform experience, unique to the tiny Mediterranean archipelago Just as the series, Farrugia’s soundtrack captures the breadth and beauty of Malta's diverse wildlife. Each track corresponds to a specific lifeform - fauna and flora - while recurring motifs and instrumentation bind the album and series into an overarching narrative. Recorded, as usual, in his home studio, Farrugia worked closely with the series producers to offer both celebratory and wistful storytelling. As with the series, all is delivered in the Maltese language, a singular and vibrant combination of borrowed Latinate vocabulary over a grammatical base of Semitic origin that reveals Malta’s storied past.