Nitin Sawnhey – Philtre

This is an absolute beauty of an album – really a great example of how to take people on a musical journey. Sawnhey has long been regarded as one of the most creative of young asian artists in the UK, and this album is a superb snapshot of his talent. Opening with some gentle, relaxing tracks – almost in the Massive Attack camp, he starts to develop some more eastern references. Dead Man is a nicely dark, brooding track with an excellent vocal and Rag Doll is a very short track featuing Sawnheys mother. Later is my standout track ‘Noches en Vela’ – for which part one is a peaceful spanish sounding vocal with gentle flamencos – but the track picks up speed and intensity into an almost ‘Hybrid’ sounding breakbeat tune with dancefloor friendly squelchy bass – which has remix written all over it. I really enjoyed this CD, well worth tracking down and getting yourself familiar with a true british asian star. Lets hope Philtre is a launch pad for more british acts really experiment with world sounds, but not have them over commercialised and watered down. An excellent album.