LP - Indies Exclusive Limited Edition Dark Green Vinyl. Includes download code and 8-page booklet created by Sijya Gupta, with Korwar’s notes on the concepts behind the project.
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. KALAK 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.
Recommended if you like Melt Yourself Down.
Tracklist:
A1. A Recipe To Cure Historical Amnesia
A2. To Remember (feat. Kushal Gaya)
A3. Utopia Is A Colonial Project
A4. Back In The Day, Things Were Not Always Simpler (feat. Noni-Mouse)
A5. The Past Is Not Only Behind Us, But Ahead Of Us
B1. Kal Means Yesterday And Tomorrow
B2. Remember Begum Rokheya
B3. That Clocks Don’t Tell But Make Time (feat. Kodo)
B4. Remember Circles Are Better Than Lines
B5. Remember To Look Out For The Signs
B6. KALAK - A Means To An Unend