Sapta Release 10-Track Album 'X'

A low piano resounds before cinematic string lines lead the build-up to a satisfying drop into a pulse of electronic grooves – the start of opener 'An Invisible Crown' practically introduces the constant elements of Sapta's latest album 'X' alongside delivering a standout kick-off to an extended work. Over the course of 10 tracks, the outfit by producer Marti Bharath offers rhythms from Indian folk music, ethnic percussion playing contemporary dancefloor beats and a parade of vocal samples and features by the likes of Native Indian and Shravan Sridhar.

In the process, the album, which also marks 16 years of Sapta, reaches through realms of bass, breakbeat, hip-hop, techno and sometimes IDM to cover the vast ground identified simply as electronica. The journey is underpinned by the constant raw electronic timbres that do well on their own but suffer from time to time from passé pristineness and cliche vocal delays, low-pitched vocal samples and an overplayed hand of inauthentic strings that remind of TV thriller soundtracks. While the latter limits the effect, the compositional aspect of the tracks remains brilliant enough to carry an undeniable merit replete with an impressionable energy and one of the most seasoned sense of tension and release.

Listen to 'X' below and follow Sapta for more information.

Image: Sapta at Magnetic Fields Festival 2022 by Aarohi Mehra