Music this week

Rating:

London-based composer duo Garry Hughes and Andrew T Mackay,the world music fusion team of Bombay Dub Orchestra,travelled to Mumbai and Delhi to bring out their second album,3 Cities. Gathering a colossal ensemble of Indian session musicians,the duo has delivered a vibrant album which has 70 minutes of succulent music.

On the surface,it sounds like just another fusion band trying to jigsaw its way into the clichéd West-meets-East music chill out. But dig deeper and you8217;ll be drawn into the musical mergersoothing Indian melodies given a fitting ambience of pulsating electro pop tunes.

The opening track,Egypt by air,builds up with the mystical oud and sparkling santoor notes and moves on to weighty synthesisers and sweeping strings. The classical voice in another track,Journey,has a background sound of heavy trip-hop grooves,a soothing piano and a tender violin before culminating in a tranquil santoor and flute piece.

Strange constellations hits with its effervescent melodies while Junoon is the first lyrical number. Spiral uses south Indian cinematic sounds and north Indian crooning and moves on to a spacey Map of dusk . The melancholic yet jazzy Fallen paves way for the soulful Greenish blue. High-octane Monsoon Malabar with its spitting synthesisers runs into a dark western chiller Feasting with panthers. Listen to 3 Cities on a chilled-out morning or for dissecting the many sounds its 70 musicians offer.

mohan.kumarexpressindia.com