Heathrow Now Has a Music Track Composed Entirely of Airport Sounds

Photo Credits: CNN

Heathrow Airport in London is hoping to spark the holiday spirit this summer season with a music track composed entirely of real-life jet engines, lift dings and baggage sirens. 

Music for Heathrow, as the track is appropriately titled, was created by Grammy-nominated musician Jordan Rakei. For this project, Rakei was given unrestricted access to the airport, which is considered the busiest in Europe. 

He went on to sample more than 50 sounds recorded across the airport, from the airfield and baggage handling systems to the terminals. Sounds featured in the track include passports being stamped, bags hitting the conveyor belt and public address announcements. 

Photo Credits: Heathrow Express

In a press release, Jordan said, "It's all about building that suspense and setting the mood for where you’re headed on your summer holiday." 

“It was an honour to turn Heathrow’s many sounds into music.” he added. 

While the music is composed mostly of sounds recorded at the airport, Rekei has also included a few pop culture references and Easter eggs for the observant listener. The sound of tapping feet is taken from a scene set in Heathrow in the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham, while the beeping comes from a Heathrow security scanner featured in the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually. 

The four-minute ambient loop was created as a tribute to Brian Eno’s 1979 album Music for Airports, which helped popularise the ambient genre. 

The airport is also set to bring back live music performances for the 250,000 travellers expected to pass through each day. You can check out the music here.