Maaike Siegerist has a new charity single out called 'Call of the Last Wildcat', a portrait of the UK's endangered mammal, the beautiful Scottish Wildcat. The track was released on Endangered Species Day (May 21st). A fantastic and versatile singer-songwriter, let's take a closer look at this latest release...
Taking musical inspiration from Maggie Reilly’s collaborations with Mike Oldfield, and the dark fairy-tale atmosphere of early Within Temptation, ‘Call of the Last Wildcat’ is an ode to the Scottish Wildcat, an untameable animal on the brink of extinction. Maaike decided to leave her life in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam behind to study music in the UK. She’d already been in several bands, in genres ranging from acoustic jazz to progressive metal, and felt inspired to make music her main focus in life. Maaike's music has been played on BBC Radio 6 Music, and she won Glastonbury FM’s and University of the West of England’s songwriting competitions in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
The lyrics are hauntingly poignant: “A creature moves almost unseen; she waits for the sun to set – Hear the call of the last wildcat”. The soothing guitar and piano melodies intertwine along with the artist's spine-tingling vocal. This is like a poem set to music and it is sure to hit your soul hard. The track erupts into a glorious distorted guitar solo before the tranquil folk sounds return full circle.
Explaining the inspiration behind the song, Maaike says:
“I wrote ‘Call of the Last Wildcat’ when I was visiting the Cairngorms two years ago. The landscape was breathtaking – so beautiful and rugged! There was a drawing of a Scottish Wildcat in the cottage where I was staying. It made me curious, so I read up on them. They’re fierce animals – I could imagine them hunting in the forests. But they’re on the verge of becoming extinct. All of that came together when I picked up my guitar and started writing.”
To help the wildcats, Maaike will donate all money from sales and streams of the track to Saving Wildcats, a charity that breeds Scottish Wildcats for release back into the wild.
‘Call of the Last Wildcat’ is written and produced Maaike Siegerist. Instruments: vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, lead guitar, synth, bass and drums.
Stream the track here: