Chapter III: We Return to Light is an unashamedly gentle and soothing escape from a hectic world. The last in a travelogue triptych which has so far incorporated Anoushka Shankar’s influences from living in Europe and then California – this album returns to the source of her music and inspiration.
Chapter III, however, is resolutely not buried in the traditional Indian sounds which were first brought to the attention of Western audiences by Anoushka’s father, Ravi. That said, there certainly are some classical Indian raga sounds in the mix with more modern melodies and tones, which rub up against looping beats, ambient textures and hypnotic trance grooves. Throughout this purely instrumental set, Shankar and her collaborators, Sarathy Korwar and Alam Khan, play the parts of sharp-eyed musical magpies, picking from a rainbow of influences and sewing them into their tapestry of sound.
There are the gently pulsating looped grooves and backward sarod lines of “Hiraeth”, which back Shankar’s sitar drones and lilting melodies. The hypnotic and trippy vibes of “Dancing on Scorched Earth” conjure up visions of nights out in the tropical heat, while the lively and swirling cinematic vibe of the Lalo Schifrin in India-esque “We Burn So Brightly” has a jazzy, hip-swinging groove that’s just ripe for a Gilles Peterson remix. That said, all these tracks offer a tonic of reviving and sunny sounds that have plenty to nourish the head as well the feet and hips.
Chapter III ends at its most relaxed, however, with the completely spaced out “We Return to Love”. An Orb-like riff on Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan’s raga “Marj Khamaj”. Calming and mellow drones and lightly picked melodies float above the sounds of lapping waves on some far-off sandy shore – offering a tiny glimpse of something to warm our souls in the winter cold.
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