Nitin Sawhney

Philtre is the seventh studio album by the keyboardist/guitarist/composer/arranger in eleven years. It was released in 2005. It could be Nitin’s most musically successful work so far. He is one of the most interesting musicians dealing in contemporary forms and rhythms today. His approach is like that of a painter, skilfully and carefully blending trip-hop, hip-hop, soul, rock, jazz and Brazilian elements and blues with classical, traditional and contemporary Indian music and flamenco in intriguing combinations. Yet the results are remarkably free from clutter…quite the opposite. The music breathes. You can immerse yourself in the individual pieces with their melodies, textures and disparate styles throbbing as one, but the music gains even more by standing back a bit and the listener hears Philtre as a soundtrack from the fertile imagination of an Anglo-Indian living in London today.

As such it succeeds in juggling the ingredients in a way that is not only accessible but also very creative, flowing and grooving along in a manner that is both inevitable yet surprising. The music should be heard by all, not just world-culture junkies. Long-time collaborators such as alternative rocker Tina Grace, Indian singers Jayanta Bose and Taio and soul-singer Sharon Duncan are all here, augmented by others such as Bollywood soundtrack star Rheena Bhardwaj and Spanish flamenco-hip-hoppers Ojos De Brujo among others. I should like to point out Nitin’s excellent Spanish guitar playing on a couple of the numbers. Like everything on this release it displays an emotional cogency which has nothing to do with sterile purism. Mr Sawhney’s large world-wide fan-base won’t need any further encouragement, but I can’t see any open-minded fan of modern music failing to be moved by Philtre. Richard Jasiutowicz