Various Artistes/ Aakasha

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Various Artistes/ Aakasha

Genre: New age, meditative 

Label: Soul Diviners, Resensitize Records

Rating: ****

The words 'diverse', 'structured' and 'serenity' come to mind after listening to the 11 tracks of Aakasha, the joint work of four producers - Monika Ryan, Siddhant Bhatia, Keerthy Narayanan and Mia Moravis.

Take the basic sound, to begin with. It's a blend of new age, ambient, chant-based and meditative music, which just flow seamlessly between one and other. Then, there are the words. English lyrics, Sanskrit chants and motivational Hindi lines are all heard in the wider sonic palette. Even the style of instruments varies, relying on keyboards and strings on some tracks, and getting into Pravin Godkhindi's bansuri, U. Rajesh's mandolin and Adnan Khan's sitar on others.

Much of the album talks of the search for inner peace and quest for truth, leading to joy and happiness. It is only natural that it begins with the Gayatri Mantra on the track 'Awakening', and has the 'Satyam Param Dhimahi' chant in the middle, on the piece titled 'Truth'. The former also features an English spoken word segment by Gregg Braden, whose description of the sacred prayer makes the album accessible to a wider global audience.

To be sure, some of the tracks take a while to create an impact. In that sense, it's a 'slow burn' album, to use a term recently in fashion. But once one gets the hang, it grows on you, specially if you're looking for music that gives you that inner sense of relaxation and helps you manage stress.

Barring one, the English lyric songs have been sung by Monika, whose voice has the right calming effect. On 'Cool Down' she is joined by Siddhant Bhatia, who sings Indian classical passages. Here, Charu Suri's piano, Danish Ali's violin and Zuheb Ahmed Khan's tabla merge with the voices. 'Parts Of One' features Monika and Gregg, backed by ambient synthetisers. Mia sings on 'Glimmer', a song about hope and destiny, with the lines, "Oh joy, it all comes back to you". 

In Hindi, there's 'Path Of Love', where Siddhant sings, "Tu hi raasta, mujhko tu mila, tu mila". Rajesh's mandolin caresses the song beautifully. On the instrumental side, Godkhindi's bansuri adorns 'Surrender', where he's joined by percussionist Swaminathan Selvaganesh. Adnan Khan's sitar is the highlight of 'Returning'.

The final composition, 'Guru Om', gets all the musicians together and is a celebratory piece on attaining 'ananda' or bliss. It's an appropriate ending to a concept album that takes you on a 49-minute spiritual journey, from search to attainment. It's one of those albums that needs to be heard, absorbed and experienced in its entirety.