Amirtha Kidambi, Elder Ones: From Untruth

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Matt Nelson (ss)
Nick Dunston (b)
Amirtha Kidambi (v, harmonium, ky)
Max Jofe (d)

Label:

Northern Spy

June/2019

Media Format:

CD

Catalogue Number:

NS113

RecordDate:

date not stated

Kidambi's 2016 release Holy Science was impressive, but this follow-up packs an even greater punch. The New York-based American vocalist-harmonium-keys player continues to explore her Indian heritage in ambitious arrangements, and she has been able to use all her resources in a way that avoids any ready-made clichés. The hard clash between the woozy, seesaw-like harmonium and Matt Nelson's searing soprano saxophone is a defining feature of raga-like material that is epic and frequently entrancing. Furthermore, the synthesizers used by Kidambi often evoke the sharp, reedy character of the Wurlitzer organ of one of her role models, Alice Coltrane, while the withering distortions created by Nelson's ‘moog cluster flux’ enhance the otherworldly, if not supernatural, strain running through the music. In fact, the spirit of Sun Ra permeates several of the songs to good effect, but Kidambi's voice is a starkly commanding presence. There are four suite-like compositions in which she reveals an operatic power, as well as a timbral invention, that places her in an illustrious lineage of experimental singers. Her screams are as focused as they are ferocious, and entirely in keeping with the magnitude of the lyrics, which denounce the misdeeds of both British colonialism and modern day capitalism. An austere, but absolutely thrilling work.

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