Discover ‘Seven Gifts’ Lis Addison’s assured contribution to Indian and world music.
Lis Addison – ‘Seven Gifts’
This site largely covers Western pop music, but we like to throw in some wildcards now and then! Fans of world music may already know Lis Addison, but anyone looking to broaden their horizons might find her a good place to start. She blends genres in an accessible way, in this case, Indian classical music with some electronic influences.
Lis Addison is a singer and composer in world and electronic music, with a particular specialism in North Indian classical music. She’s an old hand in this world, with over 10 million streams and top 10 albums hitting the international charts. This latest track marks a rework and remix of one of her previous pieces.
‘Seven Gifts’ is an ambient track mixing classical Indian and electronic influences, managing to be both euphoric and soothing.
The lyrics may prove a challenge to anyone who hasn’t brushed up their Hindi and Sanskrit, but in the style of much meditative music, the lyrics are simple and repetitive, allowing ambience and improvisation to shine through. (The lyrics are in praise of Addison’s former guru – ‘sat guru’ means ‘true guru). It’s Addison’s remarkable voice that is allowed to shine through here – pure, uplifting, and flexible, capable of both long floating passages and quick melisma. The cascading melodies, whilst using a Indian rag scale, still remain accessible and provide some memorable phrases.
The production centres around a tanpura drone and some impressive tabla work from Ben Leinbach – the tabla is like a second voice of its own, developing and responding to the track. But there are also some modern touches, hints of synths and keyboard pads that flesh the track out into something more current. Even if you’re not familiar with the genre, this is still an accessible piece.
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