Ukrainian singer of Armenian descent MARIAM, known for her duet track "Gorod spit" with the band ADAM, and singer-songwriter DONTSOV have presented their collaborative single "Rany". According to RBC.UA Wave, this is the artists' first joint work—an emotional story about love, distance, and feelings that do not fade even when two people cannot be together. The composition is built as a dialogue between female and male vocals, where each voice experiences the same story in its own way.
A story that will not let go
At the center of the single is a complex relationship where closeness does not always coincide with physical presence. The song's characters exist as if in different worlds, separated by continents, circumstances, and even the boundary between life and death, yet they continue to be bound by a strong feeling that refuses to let the past go and leaves hope for a meeting. The key imagery of the release is the line "I healed wounds I did not cause": it conveys the state of a person who takes on someone else's pain, tries to understand a loved one's experience, and maintains a connection despite any obstacles.
From demo to duet
The idea for the composition belongs to MARIAM: the singer independently wrote the music and created a demo recording that already shaped the main concept of the future release. However, the composition remained without a continuation for almost year. Later, the artist offered the material to DONTSOV, who joined the work on the lyrics and developed the story embedded in the song, supplementing it with new imagery. According to MARIAM, she initially felt that this particular artist would be able to truly understand the concept, praising him as a sincere person who did not simply perform what was written, but emotionally lived through the material.
Return to songwriting
As MARIAM confesses, "Rany" was born out of personal experiences and was not intended to meet listeners' expectations or become a potential hit: the singer wanted to convey the internal conflict of a person who has met a great love but understands that a shared future with that person may be impossible. For DONTSOV, working on the single marked a return to his own songwriting after a long period characterized by the source as a seven-year break: over these years, he remained part of the Ukrainian music industry but worked primarily behind the scenes, helping other musicians realize their ideas. At the same time, the artist does not plan to focus on concert activities in the near future—his current goal is to record music that resonates with listeners and serves as emotional support for them.
