MUSICAL pioneer Nitin Sawhney is on the brink of releasing his first album in four years and his 10th to date. Previous works have earned the musician, composer and producer a MOBO, an Ivor Novello award and a BAFTA nomination so it comes as no surprise that there is a great deal of expectation surrounding his upcoming release, Dystopian Dream.
Lead single ‘When I’m Gone’ features vocals from Stealth who provides a fantastically brooding performance on the track. Opening with bluesy-slide guitars and a lone male vocal, ‘When I’m Gone’ sounds like a soul staple but as strings, which call to mind Moby’s ‘Porcelain’, swell beneath the vocal line there’s a sense that Sawhney has bigger plans for this track.
He doesn’t disappoint. The song is almost immediately lifted to a new plain entirely with gorgeous production paired with increased instrumental work ensuring that ‘When I’m Gone’ evolves relentlessly. From rhythmic pianos to synths and distorted guitar leads, Sawhney builds a carefully constructed masterpiece which is as effortless at its most bare and intimate as it is at its most grandiose and elaborate.
Dystopian Dream has been heavily influenced by the recent death of Sawhney’s father and as ‘When I’m Gone’ falls back to the bones of bluegrass sliding guitars and Stealth’s vocal there is a sense of symmetry and circularity which is unavoidable. With the influence of Massive Attack subtly apparent throughout the track, ‘When I’m Gone’ is, frankly, stunning.
Dystopian Dream is to be released on the 6th November . Sawhney plays Glasgow’s Art School on the 19th November, Tickets are available from The Art School. Scroll down for full UK tour dates.
Listen to ‘When I’m Gone’ below:
TOUR DATES
15th November – Concorde II, BRIGHTON
16th – Trinity, BRISTOL
17th – Heaven, LONDON
18th – Library at the Institute, BIRMINGHAM
19th – Art School, GLASGOW
20th –Gorilla, MANCHESTER
