I often write about my own personal experiences with the music that I highlight, which can run the risk of overlooking the experience or intention of the musician themselves. For the most part, I’m going to give myself all clear for doing this – especially as this is a music blog and those few of you who read it are probably looking for a fresh perspective. This week, I’m going to try a different approach. I am going to let the music speak and push my gripping anecdotes aside (don’t cry about it).
Every now and then I come across an album that truly knocks me off my feet. Fewer times do I come across an album that completely blindsides me, taking me on a road that I didn’t even know existed. Hmayra was one such album. Shubh Saran’s creative mind is perhaps no better presented than in this 2017 release. Hearing the album a year after it came out, this album served a signal to a rural 18-year-old guitarist that there is an endless world of musical possibilities out there. I know, I said I wouldn’t use anecdotes but if it serves the purpose of description then that’s fine, right?
Hmayra ingeniously interlaces Indian/Bangladeshi and Middle Eastern melody and rhythms with Western jazz harmony and instrumentation. The individuality of this record goes beyond those musical categories, mixing in rock, neo-soul and electronica. While we all love eclecticism and originality, this isn’t just about that. Saran’s personal biography is carved deep into the fibres of this piece. His youth spent in different countries and in different communities is at the core of most of his music. It’s why his sound is so individual and so indescribable. The cinematic expansiveness of tracks like “Haze” isn’t just a creative coincidence; it is a film that has captured all the events in Saran’s life to that point and placed it in a 6 minute moment. There’s a track to start with if you don’t have time for a full album right now. Listen to how the structure develops and how electronic instruments and studio techniques are used to bridge between sections and offer fresh timbres.
If you’re new to Shubh Saran, go read up on him and definitely go and listen to Hmayra. You’re late to the game but so was I when I first heard it and I’d have felt a fool if I had waited any longer to check it out.
Waxing Lyrical 