ONUKA and Deep Forest release “To Heaven” — only the ending reveals where its heroine is going

ONUKA and the French project Deep Forest have released a joint song, To Heaven. The track came out on October 2 as part of the new Deep Forest album SOUL, the twentieth in the project’s history.

The artist announced the release on her official channel.

The music was written and produced by Deep Forest founder Éric Mouquet, the lyrics by Nata Zhyzhchenko. The song is dedicated to Ukraine: for ONUKA, it is one more chance to tell the world about the war her country is living through.

What “To Heaven” is about

According to Mouquet, the song tells the story of a young woman getting ready for a meeting. Only at the very end does it become clear that she is going to a cemetery. The authors dedicated it to all victims of war — in Ukraine and elsewhere.

“Today, our collaboration with Deep Forest has been released. And it is dedicated to Ukraine. And this is yet another chance to tell the world about the horror we are living through. I am incredibly grateful to Eric for supporting Ukraine throughout all these difficult years,” ONUKA wrote.

This is not their first collaboration: Éric Mouquet took part in recording the song Vsesvit (“Universe”) from the ONUKA album Mozaïka, released in 2018.

Who Deep Forest are

Deep Forest is a French project that Éric Mouquet founded in 1992 together with Michel Sanchez. Their music blends electronics with the voices and melodies of different peoples, and in 1996 their album Boheme won the Grammy for Best World Music Album.

October is a busy month for ONUKA: on October 28, she will perform in Lviv with the National Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments of Ukraine. And her story has recently gained another chapter — the Emmy statuette that is on its way to her grandfather’s workshop in Chernihiv.

“To Heaven” sounds quiet and free of grand words, and that is exactly why it hits home. It tells the story of war not through explosions but through a single meeting, one the heroine prepares for as carefully as she would for a date.

Earlier, we wrote about how the ONUKA statuette made its way through the years — and why it is now heading to her grandfather’s workshop.