One Drop of Kindness

Yungchen Lhamo has been in exile from Tibet since 1989 and One Drop of Kindness, her seventh release, continues her mission of singing songs of compassion for all. This time her main collaborator is multi-instrumentalist and sound recordist John Alevizakis. The album features guitars, oud, Turkish cümbüş, banjo and keyboards. Lhamo and Alevizakis spent two days in his Little Buddha Studio in California recording the songs which were embellished by guest musicians playing Armenian duduk, Indian violin and didgeridoo, among many other instruments. On ‘Being Courageous’ Lhamo's pure clear voice and the subtle accompaniment of drone, plaintive duduk and oud draws you into an intense meditative state. Her impressive full vocal range is heard on the more upbeat ‘Overcoming Obstacles’. ‘Dream Song’ has a catchy almost desert blues feel provided by the oud and percussion. Yungchen Lhamo has been courageous and overcome many obstacles in her single-hearted belief that sound can bring about change and heal. ‘Sound Healing’, with a didgeridoo and bass-led groove, is her manifestation of this. ‘Perfect Compassion’ is a breezy arrangement of a folk melody with the essential Buddhist mantra for compassion ‘Om mani padme hum’ folded into the arrangement. Lhamo's voice soars as the intensity of the rhythm increases.