Somnium Monkey Mixes Ambient, Raagas, Power Electronics & More On Double EP

Hyderabad composer-producer Aswin Narayanan aka Somnium Monkey just released a double EP with 'Vettam' and 'Butterfly Effect'. Both the EPs come filled with abrasive ambient soundscapes, engulfing noise and drone tones, but there is an undercurrent of high-energy impact that reminds one of experimental fringes of hip-hop.

On both opening tracks, 'The Beginning' from 'Vettam' and 'The Inception' from 'Butterfly Effect', the low-end enters with a boom but then sustains along with dense layers of sizzling, changing timbres. In the former, an invocation through Indian classical singing reinforces a sense of beginning as the first instance of traditional music appearing on the double EP. Later on in 'Vettam', which is presented as a seamless flow of music across 5 tracks, the vocal passages appear as ethereal reverberations on 'Toward The Light', with hints of it also felt on 'Visions of Light'. The title track from 'Butterfly Effect', on the other hand, keeps the voice of Bahneman Saikia front and centre as Aswin's assembly of synth work and field recordings remains restrained in a supportive role on the double EP's most placid number.

Besides the fact that they are packaged together, especially as a cassette by the label ONNO Collective, there isn't much in terms of musical narrative that benefits the EPs being combined as a double EP from our standpoint. 'Vettam' has its own self-contained, complete arc (which is also an achievement that many don't reach), while 'Butterfly Effect' offers 3 distinct and more concise offerings.

However, released so close together, there is obviously a shared palette of sounds, which is defined by elements changing right in front of you. Sarangi/Kamaicha melodies get reduced to the screeching friction between the bow and the string, while notes introduced as placating ambient synthtones deteriorate into grating textures.

With the pads and classical singing, there is an undeniable meditativeness to the release, but Somnium Monkey doesn't leave you with it; instead, nestling it within a post-modern dread that's surprising and sly at the same time.

Listen to 'Vettam' and 'Butterfly Effect' below and follow Somnium Monkey for more.