Afterlife

Aussie saxophonist Matt Keegan has spearheaded an extraordinary fusion on Afterlife, combining Indian folk voice and verse with buoyant baritone sax and squelchy synth riffs. This is Australian-Bengali group The Three Seas’ third album, and they have voyaged on from earlier jazzier outings into a Bermuda Triangle of electro-dub, funk and Hindustani music. It is novel to the ear. ‘DrK’ features a khamak (stringed drum pitched by squeezing) underscored by a battery of layered saxophones and a militaristic beat that could come from mainstream hip-hop.

Indian singers and poets combine with the crunchy grooves to absorbing effect. Poet Deo Ashish Mothey pays tribute to a Himalayan river on ‘Teesta’, striking an inquiring tone complemented by otherworldly synth patterns, communicating the urgency of the environmental message without need for translation. ‘Menoka Mathaye’ is another adventure. Raju Das Baul’s vocals describe the marriage of a spirit’s daughter with a disguised god while a string quartet hew out sinister phrases into cinematic soundscapes. It is emblematic of the dark exuberance that powers this remarkable record.