Gurrumul’s ‘Banbirrngu’ Receives Remix For UMG's World Sleep Day Campaign

A reimagined take on Gurrumul’s classic song, Banbirrngu, has been remixed for Universal Music Group’s (UMG) World Sleep Day campaign.

The new version of the song – entitled Banbirrngu (Rainbow Serpent Ambient Mix) – offers a serene interpretation of a beloved song. You can check it out here ahead of World Sleep Day on Friday, 14 March.

Banbirrngu offers an extra twist in that it’s a remix of the Orchestral Version of the song, which features on Gurrumul’s posthumous album, Banbirrngu - The Orchestral Sessions.

Mixing ambience and orchestral soundscapes, it’s a track that encourages rest and relaxation. Gurrumul’s longtime friend and collaborator Michael Hohnen, who also helped produce the track, said of the new remix: “Gurrumul is an artist who has always captured the intangible in people’s conscious and sub-conscious states.

“His cyclic composition in this version of Banbirrngu (a Rainbow creation serpent, which also represents the cycle of life) is sonically treated with floaty keyboards, orchestral strings and repetition in meditation-like states.”

Hohnen added, “This version includes the understated, timeless beauty of Gurrumul’s subtly treated voice with the genre and approach of ambient music to create an experience that can support relaxation, healing, and peace. It’s a tribute to Gurrumul’s legacy and the way his music continues to inspire both rest and reflection across the world. When the rest of the work is filled with chaos, we need solace and healing, and this track has both.”

Gurrumul was a blind Gumatj man from Arnhem Land. He was one of the most famous, critically acclaimed Indigenous performers in Australian music history, with his music providing a rich legacy on musical and cultural levels. He passed away in 2017. In 2022, he was inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) Hall of Fame.

Banbirrngu - The Orchestral Sessions was released in November. Before Gurrumul’s passing, he spent a decade collaborating with orchestras, from an early performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall to working with symphony orchestras in Australia.

Honouring the late music legend’s most notable compositions from throughout his incredible career, the album was produced by Michael Hohnen, arranged by Erkki Veltheim and recorded in Prague with the Prague Metropolitan Orchestra, who were conducted by Jan Chalupecký.