Sarathy Korwar returns with new album KALAK. The follow up to the politically charged, award-winning More Arriving is an Indo-futurist manifesto - in rhythmic step with the past and the present, it sets out to describe a route forward. It celebrates a rich South Asian culture of music and literature, which resonates with spirituality and community, while envisaging a better future from those building blocks.

Recorded at Real World studios with meticulous production by New York electronic musician, DJ and producer Photay, who translates these communal rhythms and practices into a timeless and groundbreaking electronic record. There’s a spirituality and warmth at play in the polyrhythms, group vocals and melodic flourishes.

The KALAK rhythm is the fulcrum upon which the 11-track project balances. After an intense lockdown induced period of reflection and meticulous note-making, Korwar boiled this down to the circular KALAK symbol which he then presented to his band before recording began. With the symbol projected on the walls in order to de-code and improvise around, Korwar had utter faith in the musicians he’d assembled and conviction in the concept.

The final part of the KALAK project is realised in the cover artwork by New Delhi-based designer Sijya Gupta. Korwar and photographer friend Fabrice Bourgelle took a light sculpture of the KALAK symbol on a road trip around Southern India, through Chennai, Pondicherry and Auroville. The evocative shots appear on the cover of the various formats, with each one offering a different angle on the country, continent and culture that inspired the album.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A stunning selection of rhythmic counterpoints and vocal melodies, falling somewhere between deep house, traditional South Asian communal chant and jazzy funk. It's an intoxicating listen throughout. Ace.

TRACK LISTING

1. A1. A Recipe To Cure Historical Amnesia
2. A2. To Remember (feat. Kushal Gaya)
3. A3. Utopia Is A Colonial Project
4. A4. Back In The Day, Things Were Not Always Simpler (feat. Noni-Mouse)
5. A5. The Past Is Not Only Behind Us, But Ahead Of Us
6. B1. Kal Means Yesterday And Tomorrow
7. B2. Remember Begum Rokheya
8. B3. That Clocks Don’t Tell But Make Time (feat. Kodo)
9. B4. Remember Circles Are Better Than Lines
10. B5. Remember To Look Out For The Signs
11. B6. KALAK - A Means To An Unend

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LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

RSD exclusive pressed on transparent green vinyl, with new artwork which calls attention to the UK's immigration process.

Otherland' is a companion piece to Sarathy Korwar’s celebrated 'More Arriving' album, which drew on the words and experience of the Indian diaspora to powerful effect.

The release features two brand new tracks with vocals by London-based poet Zia Ahmed ('Birthright') and Kushal Gaya of Melt Yourself Down ('Juggernaut'), plus remixes by Auntie Flo and Emanative.

RSD exclusive pressed on transparent green vinyl, with new artwork which calls attention to the UK's immigration process.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Birthright (featuring Zia Ahmed, Mirande & Swadesi)
A2. Juggernaut (featuring Kushal Gaya)
B1. Mumbay (featuring MC Mawali) (Auntie Flo Remix)
B2. Birthright (Emanative Remix)

Born in the US, raised in India and resident in the UK, Korwar has established himself as one of the most original and compelling voices in the UK jazz scene, collaborating with the likes of Shabaka Hutchings (The Comet Is Coming), clarinettist Arun Ghosh and producer Hieroglyphic Being

Korwar’s debut Day To Day (Ninja Tune, 2016), combined the folk rhythms of India’s Sidi community with contemporary electronics and jazz textures, earning praise from the likes of Four Tet, Gilles Peterson and Floating Points.

We live in divisive times. Multiculturalism rises hand-in-hand with racial tensions, and politicians seem powerless to even bring people within earshot of their convoluted message. It’s time for a different perspective.

On his second studio album, More Arriving, Sarathy Korwar blasts out his own vibrant, pluralistic missive for the world to hear. This is not necessarily a record of unity; it’s an honest reflection of Korwar’s experience of being an Indian in a divided Britain. Recorded over two and a half years in India and the UK, More Arriving draws on the nascent rap scenes of Mumbai and New Delhi, incorporating spoken word and Korwar’s own Indian classical and jazz instrumentation. This is a record born of confrontation; one for our confrontational times.

With this album, Korwar expands his politicised narrative to envelop the entire diaspora. “This is a modern brown record. The kind of record that a contemporary Indian living in the UK for the past 10 years would make,” Korwar says. “This is what Indian music sounds like to me right now.”

It all begins with the title: “More Arriving comes from the scaremongering around Brexit,” Korwar says. “It’s a tongue-in-cheek play on the fact that there are more people coming and you’ll have to deal with it!” Through this defiance, Korwar takes clear pride in the knotty mix of his identity – harking back to the new India of the Mumbai hip-hop kids, as well as identifying with London’s cultural diversity. “I want the idea of brown pride to come through,” he says. “My voice is one amongst a thousand, but this record is a snapshot of something much greater than myself. It’s the chance to send a message.” 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A highly political record, fitting in perfectly between the colourful sounds of modern India and the UK's flourishing appreciation for nu-jazz and hip-hop. Korwar has managed to craft a brilliantly immersive LP, seamlessly segueing between genres while retaining the parts of each that make them great. A true melting pot, and a necessary political statement.

TRACK LISTING

1. A1. Mumbay (featuring MC Mawali)
2. A2. Jallaad
3. A3. Coolie (featuring Delhi Sultanate & Prabh Deep)
4. A4. Bol (featuring Zia Ahmed & Aditya Prakash)
5. B1. Mango (featuring Zia Ahmed)
6. B2. City Of Words (featuring TRAP POJU & Mirande)
7. B3. Good Ol’ Vilayati (featuring Mirande)
8. B4. Pravasis (featuring Deepak Unnikrishnan)