Whispering Sky

Tibetan musician and composer Tenzin Choegyal has been in exile from his home country since the 1970s and based in Brisbane, Australia for over 20 years. Whispering Sky is his latest release. He collaborated with many musician friends via Zoom and in person from all around the planet. These influences shaped the wonderfully varied sound palette heard, imbuing each piece with different sonic dynamics. However, this does not distract from the soaring voice and skilful dranyen (Tibetan lute) and lingbu (bamboo flute) playing of Choegyal. These are amply featured on ‘Rawang Freedom’ and ‘Dolma Whispering Sky’, the first inspired by the Buddhist Heart Sutra and the other by a Tara (aka Dolma), the Goddess of Compassion, mantra. ‘Kyema the Roof is Leaking’ has Linsey Pollak providing a playful electronic soundscape with whale calls and invented wind instruments while Choegyal sings, ‘How wonderful it is to have attained this human form, so to depart this form empty-handed would be a waste.’ All eight tracks on Whispering Sky are well worth listening to.