Susheela Raman, Salt Rain (Narada) 9
Given the undeniable beauty of a well-trained female voice singing classical Indian music, it's surprising that there has been no truly record-breaking mainstream star in this arena. Born in London, raised in Australia, with Tamil South Indian roots, Susheela Raman (known previously for her contributions to Joi) is a strong candidate. Indeed, she's well on her way, having already been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, the award for the best British album of the year. Only in her early 20s, Raman's voice, while not as powerful as the equally young but lesser known Mona Jethmalani (Karma Sutra), is mature and lovely. Raman employs a multicultural band (with members from Romania, Greece, Spain and Kenya) that blends signature Indian ragas with a number of styles, from American blues as filtered through Ali Farka Toure, to African polyrhythms, reggae, gypsy flamenco and Sufi rhythms into a seamless whole. While not intentional, the resulting sound veers dangerously close to the kind of generically pleasant world-beat that is easily digested in yuppie cafes. There is also a whiff of deliberate compromise, of label pressure to ease off more challenging material and center the album around eager-to-please covers "Trust In Me" and "Song To The Siren." While the songs are well done and enjoyable, they seem pointless when Siouxsie and the Banshees recorded the definitive version of the Jungle Book song, and This Mortal Coil nailed the latter Tim Buckley song with eerie beauty. However, there are some unexpected twists, like splashes of techno-folk that recalls Beth Orton. Overall, the talent of Raman and her band cannot be denied, and the music gets under your skin. Here's hoping Raman can manage to resist the lure of the mainstream doldrums as she matures, and properly fulfills her potential as an adventurous artist worthy of her training.
