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Taken from BroadwayWorld (Dec 23, 2022)
Madame Gandhi Releases 'Vibrations' Short-Form LP
The album was released via Sony Music Masterworks.
by Michael Major
Madame Gandhi. Courtesy Image |
Artist and activist Madame Gandhi (Kiran Gandhi) shared her new short-form album Vibrations; a highly danceable five-part atmospheric meditation doubling as a rousing statement on gratitude. Released via Sony Music Masterworks, it's the final project in a three-part series - following Voices (2016) and Visions (2019) - that looks at personal liberation, activism, being in service, and evolving in love.
"Each mini-album begins with a V because I liked the subliminal reference to the feminine anatomy. It's healing. It's energy. It's music. It's touch, feel. It's inclusive," she says. But instead of being a coda to this trilogy, Vibrations is about "the feeling of soothing loneliness in a low, vibrational way."
Vibrations is just as effervescently escapist as its name implies, as when the vocalist-percussionist came out of isolation, she was a different person: uplifted, vivacious, content. A rush of joy and introspection, Vibrations manages to be everything at once: a psychic rebirth, a life's plan, a celebration of existence. But mostly, Vibrations is the sound of Gandhi, transcendent storyteller that she is, bringing us together through her own vantage point. Even the album's first lyric is an invitation, "Come with me."
The album opens with the idea of rebirth; opener "Past Life" is satisfyingly tactile in its use of whispers, fluidic synths, earthy bongos, and otherworldly vocals. This is followed by the luminescent, off-kilter R&B of "Crystals & Congas," which explores nature as a restorative force. The dreamy "Date Me" captures the vulnerable side of relationships, warmly beckoning queer love over a sped-up drum groove recorded in Detroit with producer Caleb Stone and refined with Cornershop bassist Anthony Saffery (Portugal, The Man).
"Heart Wide Open," produced by MNDR (Tokimonsta, Carly Rae Jepsen) and Ebonie Smith (Santigold, Janelle Monae) is a joyous explosion of jazzy, brassy rhythms that happen to double as an homage to Fela Kuti's legacy of life-affirming anthems. Finally, the closer "Set Me Free" transports you with hope to a paradise soundscaped with bright horns and island beats; a seductive ode to minds, spirits, and entwined bodies.
Madame Gandhi is an award-winning artist and activist known for her uplifting, percussive electronic music and positive message about gender liberation and personal power. She has toured drumming for M.I.A., Thievery Corporation, Oprah, and Kehlani. She began producing music in 2015, after her story running the London Marathon free-bleeding to combat menstrual stigma went viral around the world.
Gandhi has been listed as Forbes 30 Under 30 in Music, and her 2020 TED Talk about conscious music consumption has been viewed over a million times. Her video for the track "Waiting For Me," shot in Mumbai, India, won the Music Video Jury Award at SXSW Film Festival in 2021, and her 100% Organically Sourced x Sound MANA nature sound pack won the New Wav award at the 2021 Splice Awards.
In June of 2022, Gandhi completed a Masters in Music Science & Technology at Stanford University's CCRMA where she spent time in Antarctica sampling the sounds of glaciers melting to create empathy and awareness around climate change.
Listen to the short-form album here:
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