(This article is sponsored by Sounds of India)

World music is often perceived as vaguely culturally imperialistic with traditional eastern chants overlaid on pedestrian western melodies. The genre can get tiresomely bland and shallow. Which is why one can’t get over the sheer all round talent and rock-and-roll musicality of the Indian-American band Karyshma. Their album ‘Nearly Home’ is a slickly produced collection of ten very good rock numbers with tabla rhythms and Hindi verses woven in seamlessly. These guys have tons of talent and have clearly worked extremely hard to create this unique album. Their live performance blew me away, and their CD is seeing heavy rotation on my home music system.

Karyshma sings of relationships won and lost, of eternal longing and deep insecurities. There are moments of pure catharsis when one loses oneself in a musical storm, a frontal convergence of western and Indian sounds. This reminds us that all good music grows in unexpected directions, remembering whence it came but never, ever, standing still. Karyshma’s east meets west fusion never sounds contrived or anything but the most natural order of things.

From Ornery, the first track with Falguni’s vocals chanting padas to her soaring contralto in Nickel Soles and Empty, each song is satisfying in its own right. Nickel Soles in particular is a luscious melody that you keep going back to hear Falguni’s voice soar from the haunting opening alap, “here I stand with another man … take me home” to the layered chorus “do I care to follow … do I care to rise?”
In Man she goes low and crackly with her plaintive memories of misbegotten romance.

After the opening tabla interlude with guitar Leaving You develops into a Jethro Tull-esque rock romp, replete with driving bass and percussion. Both Empty and Monster beg repeated playing, despite the complicated pace of the compositions. There is remarkable integrity between the various instruments as the artists cross genres effortlessly. Gaurav Shah is an accomplished vocalist and holds his own in the soulful Empty, with interspersed Hindustani verses by Falguni. Someday is a bluesy lullaby that Falguni dreamily weaves through, unplugged, wrapping up a remarkable album side.

The lyrics speak to avant garde sensibilities and the liner notes display free-spirited youthful insouciance. My only problem was in deciphering the user-unfriendly fonts.

Karyshma possesses a fully realized sound, and ‘Nearly Home’ is a highly polished compendium, which, for a debut album, is truly impressive. These guys are surely going places. I’m looking forward to their next recording and to catch them live at the next opportunity. You should too.

Karyshma’s debut album “Nearly Home” contains ten original songs, including collaborations with veterans like Kenwood Dennard (Sting, Jaco Pastorius), Carl Beatty (Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen), and Greg Calbi (Branford Marsalis, Lenny Kravitz, Bob Dylan).
Falu –Vocals
Soumya Chatterjee -Violin, Guitars, Vocals
Haril Pandya -Guitars
Gaurav Shah -Keyboards, Flute, Vocals
Sandeep Swadia –Tabla
visit www.karyshma.com to sample their music.

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