Shruti Dances

A project three years in the making, Shruti Dances is the debut collaborative release from star Indian percussionist Sarathy Korwar and award-winning Scottish-Goan producer Auntie Flo (aka Brian d’Souza). The two first connected back in 2019, hitting the studio together shortly after to begin working on this release, which explores South Asian tonality and their respective experiences as part of the diaspora.

The record breaks down into six improvised exchanges between Korwar and d’Souza, each named after a syllable from the Indian solfege system. Opener ‘Dha’ builds layers of electronics and Korwar’s tabla polyrhythms, while follow-up ‘Pa’ goes from mellow percussion and buzzing synths to a maelstrom of Balearic beats, incorporating elements of Gnawa and sabar too. Underlying all the action is the shruti box, from which the album takes its name; a squeezebox that produces a similar sound to a harmonium. Having spent the last couple of years studying sound therapy, ambient and drone as part of his Ambient Flo project, d’Souza was eager to see how the shruti box’s trance-inducing sound would impact upon the album – the result is a seamless set of compositions that would be as at home during morning meditation as they would in a darkened club.