Nitin Sawhney - Human (2003) [Japanese Edition]

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Nitin Sawhney - Human (2003) [Japanese Edition]

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Human is the sixth album by Mercury Music prize nominee Nitin Sawhney, whose career has ranged from helping devise the comedy series Goodness Gracious Me to writing for Sinead O'Connor. In between, he has made a series of albums in which he has reconciled his experiences as a British-Asian with his internationalism, his ethnic roots with the eclectic musical environment in which he has found himself. Despite the numerous guest artists it features, from Blur collaborator Alani to Natacha Atlas, Human is Sawhney's most personal album to date.

Inspired by a reading of William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience", Human is essentially autobiographical, commencing with "The River", an allusion to the Ganges and the life and death cycle, moving onto his often difficult British upbringing in which he experienced racism via Enoch Powell's speeches, physically in the playground and even from his teachers (one of whom, he learned, was a National Front member). Disillusionment dawns but then, as he's enriched by this grim wisdom, optimism springs anew.

All this is tracked musically by a mosaic of styles (Sawhney deplores the term "fusion", with its implication that certain things don't "naturally" belong together), ranging from flamenco to electronica. Although never abrasive, Human is a ruminative album which doesn't leap out at you–you must come to it. Nonetheless, highlights include "Rainfall" (reminders of Stevie Wonder) and "Heer", an ancient raga whose delivery here is couched in movingly desolate tones.

Review by David Stubbs

In terms of lyrical and musical themes, this sixth album from South East London's ever productive songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist more or less picks up where he left off on his 1999 album "Beyond Skin".

In between then and now, he's recorded the globetrotting collaborative effort "Prophesy" and worked on the music for a recent TV adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, among other projects - the song "Waiting (O Mistress Mine)" features words penned by the bard himself. Other than that, "Human" includes contributions from several long term colleagues of Sawhney who've become familiar largely through previous appearances on his albums. These include the whispery vocals of Tina Grace and the comforting tones of Bengali vocalist Jayanta Bose as well as Anglo-Yemeni singer Natasha Atlas.

In stylistic terms, the Asian, flamenco, trip-hop, house and R&B flavoured musical collage he's become known for still forms the basis of much of the material. And the use of vocal sound bites is a continuing trademark. But this time around there are more new voices than ever. Most notable among these are The Streets' Kevin Mark Trail, Jacob Golden, Alani, Matt Hayles and Reena Bhardwaj - who alternates between English and Hindi as if she were two different singers.

Though "Human" offers few surprises in terms of what might be expected from Nitin Sawhney, long term fans probably won't be disappointed. The album lacks any real standout moments such as the title track of Prophesy although "Say Hello" comes closest with its hypnotic refrain, atmospheric percussion and swooning strings.

Since he never uses his own voice, but only those of other artists, there's something of a man-shaped hole at the centre of his music. Yet it seems that the more diverse his collaborations become the more we see of Sawhney himself. It's an unconventional way of working which seems to have brought him plenty of acclaim at the same time as giving other artists their breaks. And that's something to be applauded.

Review by Jon Lusk, BBC Music

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Nitin Sawhney - Human (2003) [Japanese Edition]

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Nitin Sawhney - Human (2003) [Japanese Edition]

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Nitin Sawhney - Human (2003) [Japanese Edition]

Close