Striking away at the guitar strings with a balance that is as inviting as it is colorful and exotic, Ananda Xenia Shakti and Love Power the Band make it clear that the business of delivering as melodic a performance as possible is their top priority in the opening cut of their new record Love Is Where You Are, “Devi.” There’s nothing quite as grand as the harmony between the vocal and the strings in this first track, but as we listen on in Love Is Where You Are, it becomes obvious that simplistic cosmetic elements are only a taste of what the depth of this band’s sound is all about.
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The title track in Love Is Where You Are has a retro pop swing to it, but I wouldn’t quite call it an outright throwback to the old school. After all, its mix is anything but removed from contemporary surrealism influences, especially when taking into account how much physicality it’s throwing around with quite literally as barebones an arrangement as it gets. Shakti leads the way with her amazing lead vocal, but there’s no debating whether or not this is a collective effort as opposed to a solo outing.
“Radha Grace” has a plodding rhythm that wants us to get lost in its hypnotic strut, and all things considered I think it’s one of the more immersive performances here because of its unique stylization. There’s no getting around the color in this disc, and I would even go so far as to say it’s what makes the underlying simplicity of a song like this one so much more intriguing than it already would have been. Being anti-indulgence is one thing, but using it in such a sparing manner as these players do takes something greater than self-discipline and creative wit alone.
“Mahisasuramardini” has a jittery groove that seems assaultive in the first thirty seconds of the song, but as we press on this beat is what traps us inside of the vocal harmonies as they come together in real-time. Shakti has an amazingly subtle way of controlling the narrative with her tone in this piece, and I would even say that, next to “I Am Love,” it’s the most ambitious performance you’re going to hear in Love Is Where You Are (and, at fourteen minutes long, I doubt there will be many critics who disagree with this statement).
Love Is Where You Are wraps up with a stinger of single in “I Am Love,” and as much as I would say this is a record-making track by itself, it’s not like this is the only song of its kind included in the EP. Ananda Xenia Shakti and Love Power the Band have outdone themselves as rookies on the international scene here, and although the competition they’ve got on all sides of the underground is something that would intimidate even the most talented of performers in this game, I don’t think they have anything to worry about as a group after listening to this incredible effort.
Heather Savage
