(2021) Arushi Jain - Under the Lilac Sky



Review:
For every raga there is a time. Traditionally, the Indian classical form is composed with a specific time of day in mind, and only then is each raga meant to reveal the height of its melodic beauty to the listener. Indian American composer Arushi Jain weaves her diasporic identity into this notion of timely ragas in her debut album, Under the Lilac Sky. Composed for the sunset, it blends Jain’s training as an Indian classical vocalist with modular synth work inspired by the likes of American composers Suzanne Ciani and Terry Riley into six ambient arrangements that reflect the transition from day to night. Unlike the sufi lineage of Indian classical music, which places vocal melodies as the focal point of compositions, Jain uses her voice as a harmonic texture that interacts with her looping and layered synth patches. Opening track Richer Than Blood gently builds falsetto vocal harmonies over a rumbling electronic bass drone, as if heralding the first dip of the sun from the sky, and replicating the traditional root note of the tanpura. As the drone intensifies to a guttural buzz and the darkness builds on Look How Far We Have Come, Jain disassembles the melody on her synth and brings it to a harmonic resolution through her vocals, releasing the tension. Throughout the album, these percussion-less tracks are propelled by their own sense of momentum, grounded by the pace of Jain’s repeating synth patterns and the reassuring constant of her vocal melodies, heard with particularly piercing clarity in the bass-led My People Have Deep Roots. It is an anchoring point in the otherwise ever-changing tessellation of drones and keys. Releasing her debut album as India reckons with a horrendous outbreak of Covid-19, Jain explains in her press materials that she would like her work to foster empathy and awareness for the lives lost. In her repurposing of the evening raga, Jain invokes home while creating her own language of expression. It is one that provides solace during such an uncertain and painful time – a reminder that the beauty of sunset always gives way to night, and that daybreak will come again.



Track Listing:
1.Richer Than Blood 03:35
2.Look How Far We Have Come 09:08
3.The Sun Swirls Within You 09:54
4.My People Have Deep Roots 04:00
5.Cultivating Self Love 09:42
6.Under The Lilac Sky 12:43


Media Report:
Genre: ambient, electronic, world
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits