Era (styled as +eRa+) is a new-age music project by French composer Eric Lévi. Some of the lyrics were written by Guy Protheroe in an imaginary language similar to Greek or Latin, but deliberately devoid of any exact meaning. Musically, the project blends Gregorian chants with modern elements and genres, especially rock, pop and electronic music.

Era’s first album, Era, was released in 1996 and became a worldwide success, helped by its first single, "Ameno". It sold over 6 million copies and became the most exported French album at the time. It was followed by Era 2 in 2000 and The Mass in 2003. In 2008, the project saw a significant departure from its previous themes and presented a more electronic soundscape with Arabic influences in its fourth album, Reborn. In the following two years, Era released Classics and Classics 2, which consisted in contemporary reinterpretations of classical works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Giuseppe Verdi, Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, amongst others. In 2013, Era released an album in collaboration with French singer and actress Arielle Dombasle entitled Arielle Dombasle by Era and, in 2017 an album titled The 7th Sword.

In 2022, the world population crossed 8 billion people — and we felt the scale of this monumental milestone in hundreds of ways. After over two years of lockdowns and quarantines, people eagerly restarted their lives, but there were certainly growing pains. Weddings and travel skyrocketed, but so did lost luggage and global inflation rates. Taylor Swift broke Ticketmaster. Cryptocurrency was headed toward a great year until it really, really wasn’t. 2022 tested the world population as we tested out life in a new phase of the pandemic.

Russia invaded Ukraine, and aid relief flooded into the war-torn country. Refugees were welcomed into surrounding countries, and those who stayed behind inspired people around the world. Global protests cried out for justice in Iran. Football teams stood up for migrant workers and the LGBTQ+ community at the World Cup. Cuba legalized same-sex marriage. The world froze for a moment when England’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, died. And we all watched a lot of TikTok.

As we head into 2023, take a moment to look back at the events that defined this year or maybe an era.