Arushi Jain Continues To Marry Modular Synthesis & Indian Classical Music On 'Under The Lilac Sky'

Arushi Jain Continues To Marry Modular Synthesis & Indian Classical Music On 'Under The Lilac Sky'

12 July 2021

Arushi Jain just released her album 'Under The Lilac Sky', following 2019's 'With & Without'. The Indian synthesist and radio presenter continues to utilise her background in Hindustani music as she explores the world of modular synthesis, this time making the two cultures comfortably co-exist and complement each other with heightened ease and effortlessness.

Named in reference to the dusk sky, which Arushi recommends as the right setting for listening to the six tracks on the album, 'Under The Lilac Sky' utilises the meditative, repetitive, and spiritually and emotionally immersive quality common to Indian ragas and the minimalist modular synth repertoire of Suzanne Cianni, Caterina Barbieri and Kaitlyn Aurelia-Smith, as the common ground facilitating the synchronic combination of the two. Raga-based melodic fragments repeat like arpeggios over percussion-less tracks, lining against each other to form textural rhythms which reverberate and granulate into pads that combine with analog noises to complete the ensemble of timbres. The arrangement works to provide a deliberate, constant and effective mood rather than an evolving narrative, sometimes transforming multiple times within a single track like with 'Look How Far We Have Come'.

With the exception of 'My People Have Deep Roots', which goes down as the simplest number on the release with its upfront vocal melodies carrying the listener through brooding drones, Arushi's own singing assumes a more concealed (though almost ever-present) position as compared to 'With & Without You'. Her voice often receives the same treatment as the synth arpeggios by getting transformed through repetition and layering into more abstract textures – presenting subtly the theme of how coming together can make individualities become more than the sum of their parts.

Listen to 'Under The Lilac Sky' below and head to Arushi Jain's artist profile for more information.

Image by Mariah Tiffany

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