Orange Sunshine

There is a good reason why the initial physical release of Susso Seki Singh's Orange Sunshine is vinyl only. The format suits the album's conception as a single canvas of composition. Tracks blend together on this inventive ambient exploration, as do the timbres of the three-stringed instruments around which this trio's collaboration centres.

The first piece, ‘Afro Cosmic’, introduces Kiranpal Singh's santoor (an Indo-Persian dulcimer), which lays down a mesmeric harmonic bed over which the kora of Jally Kebba Susso plucks simple but striking motifs, its earthy tone supplemented by the purity of Andrea Seki's Celtic harp. The album unfolds at a pleasingly tectonic pace, with repetitive melodic patterns shifting almost imperceptibly. Without disrupting the flow, ‘Edge of Time’ adds subtle electro ostinatos courtesy of producer Youth (Martin Glover) who, in a very different musical life, was the bassist for post-punksters Killing Joke. Fully-fledged tunes are hinted at but remain just out of reach, producing the aural effect of staring at a developing photograph that never fully emerges. However, Orange Sunshine rewards repeat listens, with new sonic details suggesting themselves each time.