Voice From The Sky, 天乐 in Chinese, is the house of the Chinese perfumer Feng Tianle, known in the West as Tianle Feng. Founded in 2019, it has eight perfumes, all composed by him, and each one starts from a moment in his own life: a meeting, a birth, a trip, a poem.
Tianle Feng, a second-generation perfumer
Tianle Feng was born into a family of perfumers. According to the house's own account, he spent much of his childhood in the laboratory of his father, who had founded his own perfumery company in China. He then studied at ISIPCA, the perfumery school in Versailles, before returning to China to take over that business and launch his own brand.
The house name is also his own. 天乐 (tiān lè) is the perfumer's given name, and the official website presents Voice From The Sky as his "eponymous brand". The two characters literally mean "the music of the sky", hence the English name. The motto shown in Chinese on the site sums up the intent: "不制造需求，只启发想象", which can be translated as "do not manufacture need, only spark the imagination".
Tianle Feng also composes for others. He created Tianshan Spring for the Chinese house ChuJian, a fresh aquatic scent very different from his own perfumes.
In 2022, Gentle King was named a finalist at the Art and Olfaction Awards, in the artisan category. These awards, given by the Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles, are judged blind: the jury smells the perfumes without knowing the brand or the perfumer. We found no record of a later win; being a finalist is still real recognition for a house of this size.
A style drawn from the perfumer's life
Every perfume in the house is tied to a specific episode that Tianle Feng tells himself. Meeting his wife for the first time on a beach in Cannes, the birth of his daughter, a lion waking up in the Serengeti, a poem by Su Shi read by moonlight. This approach produces perfumes that are very different from one another: the house has no single signature you would recognize blindfolded, rather a way of building.
That way of building rests on a balance between Chinese materials and the great classics of French perfumery. On the Chinese side, there is borneol, a camphoraceous resin that is part of traditional incense; castoreum, an animalic note used in Chinese medicine; a Hainan oud extracted with supercritical CO2, lighter than Indonesian ouds according to the house; Sichuan pepper, also CO2-extracted; the small green mandarin from Xinhui, in Guangdong; and shiso, an aromatic herb from Asian cooking rarely used in perfumery. On the French side, Grasse iris, neroli absolute, Omani frankincense, labdanum and aldehydes.
Two materials come up often. Incense appears in four perfumes out of seven, and aldehydes open the first two. The bases are often ambery or woody, with white musk, amber or ambergris. The house also likes contrasts between an animalic note and a soft one, such as the castoreum and osmanthus in Talking To The Moon.
The collection: eight perfumes in seven years
The house moves at the pace of one perfume a year, with one exception. Here is the timeline, based on our product pages and the Parfumo database:
- 2020: Voice From The Sky, the founding perfume, as an eau de parfum.
- 2021: Gentle King, as an eau de parfum, and No More Rose, now discontinued by the house and not in our catalog.
- 2022: First Hug, the first perfume in the "First" series.
- 2023: First Touch, an eau de toilette that continues the series.
- 2024: Talking To The Moon, as an extrait.
- 2025: Let Me Out, as an extrait.
- 2026: Tough Berry, as an extrait.
All the perfumes are unisex and come in 50 ml, with a 2 ml sample at Passion Parfum. The recent trend is toward higher concentrations: the last three are extraits.
Voice From The Sky perfumes at Passion Parfum
Voice From The Sky, the founding perfume
Voice From The Sky starts from the sleepless nights of city life, and from the idea that perfume connects the sky and people. Aldehydes and eucalyptus in the top, Omani frankincense and labdanum in the heart, then oud, sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli, amber and white musk. The opening is bright, almost electric, then the base turns warm and woody, carried by the Hainan oud.
Gentle King, the spicy leather
Gentle King pays tribute to the lion of the Serengeti, strength that has no need to show itself. Aldehydes, black pepper, Sichuan pepper and blackcurrant bud, a heart of hay, hinoki, cypress, violet leaf and iris, then incense, labdanum, tonka bean, leather, oud, amber and white musk. The Sichuan pepper gives a lemony tingle, the hay a dry sweetness. It is the most fully constructed perfume in the house and our recommendation for anyone who likes woody leathers.
First Hug and First Touch, the "First" series
First Hug tells the story of the perfumer meeting his wife on a beach in Cannes. Blue chamomile, cognac and oak in the top, neroli, incense and violet leaf in the heart, then seaweed, galbanum and ambergris. An aquatic, green, salty perfume with the light warmth of cognac. According to the house, each bottle contains 0.75 g of neroli oil, the equivalent of a kilo of blossoms.
First Touch was born with the perfumer's daughter. Yuzu and watermelon, a heart of lily of the valley, begonia and lilac, then a milky accord, honey and musk. It is the lightest in the collection, a clean floral eau de toilette that recalls the smell of a baby's skin. Yuzu, a citrus fruit native to the Yangtze valley, plays a central role.
Talking To The Moon and Let Me Out, the diptych
Talking To The Moon is inspired by the Su Shi poem known as 水调歌头, the loneliness of someone drinking alone under the moon. Borneol, elemi, incense, absinthe and oakmoss in the top, sandalwood and iris in the heart, then osmanthus, castoreum and cashmeran. The house also mentions a maotai-style liquor accord, after the Chinese spirit. The pairing of borneol and castoreum produces a smell of ink, which the perfumer links to the imperial ink once prepared with borneol and musk. A dark, powdery perfume for lovers of incense and animalic notes.
Let Me Out answers the previous one. Where Talking To The Moon looks death in the face, Let Me Out speaks of the hope of being reborn, drawing on David Tao's song "Butterfly" and a starry night in Shaxi, in Yunnan. Shiso leaf, turmeric leaf and clove in the top, Bulgarian white rose, iris and vetiver in the heart, then labdanum, a wool accord and angelica root. The wool accord brings an animalic, fermented note that the white rose lightens. It is the most unexpected of the seven.
Tough Berry, the strawberry
Tough Berry starts from the favorite fruit of the perfumer's daughter. Blackcurrant, pink berries and green mandarin, a heart of strawberry, kumquat, ylang-ylang, osmanthus and patchouli leaf, then pomelo, vanilla, musk and amber. The strawberry is treated as a fresh fruit, far from candy, and the green Xinhui mandarin recalls the crunch of the seeds. The most accessible scent in the house for anyone new to niche perfumery.
Where to start
Three perfumes sum up the house well. Gentle King is the most representative of its work with materials, and the one the Art and Olfaction Awards jury singled out. First Hug suits anyone looking for a fresh marine scent that does not resemble the usual aquatics. Talking To The Moon is for lovers of incense and dark perfumes. For a gentler first contact, Tough Berry or First Touch are the easiest to wear.
The house's perfumes change a lot between opening and base, especially those with aldehydes or animalic notes. The 2 ml sample lets you wear them for a day before choosing. Availability of bottles and samples is shown on each product page.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the perfumer behind Voice From The Sky?
All the perfumes are composed by the founder, Feng Tianle (Tianle Feng). The son of a perfumer and trained at ISIPCA, he also took over the perfumery company his father founded.
Is Voice From The Sky a niche brand?
Yes. It is an independent house, founded in 2019 and owned by its perfumer, that has produced eight perfumes in total and sells through a small network of selective perfumeries in China and abroad.
Where can I buy Voice From The Sky perfumes?
Passion Parfum carries the seven perfumes the house currently produces, in 50 ml bottles and 2 ml samples, shipped from France to the United States and across Europe. Availability for each size is shown on the product page.
What does 天乐 mean?
天乐 is the perfumer's given name. The two characters mean "the music of the sky", loosely rendered in English as Voice From The Sky.
Has Gentle King won an award?
Gentle King was a finalist at the 2022 Art and Olfaction Awards, in the artisan category, after blind judging.
Browse every perfume from the house in the Voice From The Sky collection, and the other independent houses we carry on the Houses and Creators page.