| Niraj's notes on the album, track by track. |
| 01It's Life |
Originally recorded for rafta rafta at the royal national theatre. This track features vocals by Japjit Kaur and tabla by Manjeet Rasiya. A bittersweet composition inspired by Rajasthani melody and sufi emotion. |
| 02 Ur Jaa |
Meaning 'fly away'. A song about loss and letting go. The arrangement took a long time as this is a very personal song and it had to be right. It was written with just piano and voice and then I built layers around that. |
| 03 Mori Atariya |
Featuring the immense voice of Sveta Hattangdi and written by the late Dr Aneeta Sen. There is a saying in Indian culture that when a crow sings near your house it is a sign of good fortune. This song about separation plays on this idea. |
| 04 Vaani |
This experimental piece brings together kathak bols (spoken dance phrases sung here by Gauri Sharma Tripathi), tribal African vocals and a very old form of Indian storytelling called kavit. |
| 05 Baavaria |
There are only 4 instruments in this track - guitar, pizzicato violins, a solo violin and double bass. Though musically I wanted to keep this piece minimal I recorded over 50 vocal layers. I really wanted this piece to be about beautifully layered vocal parts. |
| 06 Trace |
This is a track featuring the sultry voice of Melissa Baten as well as vocal alaaps (ad libs) by Faheem Mazhar. I wanted to create an atmospheric piece layering sargam vocals but in a sensual way. |
| 07 Sapano Se Pucho |
The literal translation of this song is 'ask your dreams'. Its a song about asking the right questions and to get to know who you are . I worked with Japjit Kaur and Melissa Baten on lyrics and top line. It was quite a complicated process getting the melody to work exactly as I wanted it to. We got there in the end. |
| 08 The Sin Eater |
Featuring flute by Sudhir Khadekar. I wanted to explore this haunting Indian melody. This track is all about textures - from subliminal breathing sounds to ambient electronica. Its like a yogic trance. |
| 09 A Thousand Books |
I came across some Punjabi poetry by the great 17th century Sufi poet Bulleh Shah and was really moved. I then started experimenting with opera vocals and playing with this juxtaposition. From this A Thousand Books was born. |
| 10 Saawan |
I originally worked on this piece for a dance show called Awaz by Akadami. I was completely blown away with Geetika Varde's voice and re-worked this piece for the album. Its in a 7 beat cycle which is such a beautiful time cycle and not used enough in modern music. |
| 10 Yaa Wafaa |
I have been composing a lot of orchestral music for TV over the last few years and I really wanted to represent this on the album. Yaa Wafaa (meaning loyalty) brings together Faheem Mazhar's epic elastic voice with a big orchestral sound. This piece is all about passion. |
11 Ur Jaa
(beats mix) |
I really wanted another mix of Ur Jaa on the album. So I reworked it with more of a rhythm section. The chorus is bigger on this mix but I wanted to keep the dynamics of the track so the verses are left quite sparse. |
| 12 Surrender |
Keeping with the orchestral theme the album ends with this piece. Its a composition about surrendering - sometimes letting go of your attachments and expectations is the only way to be free. Only then can one move forward. |
