Written by Lauren Rosier
One of Canada’s most exciting and celebrated musicians, Mohamed Assani, releases his latest EP, Wayfinder. Wayfinder is a 7-song set of ethnic Indian/Pakistani music blended with bits and pieces of electronic, ambient, and world music.
Upon the first few seconds of the very first song of the EP, I could tell that this was going to be an excellent EP. I am someone who likes different things. I don’t always go for the music that might be celebrated on mainstream radio, but the artists that are honest, truthful, and have something different going on. That is why I think you should take a chance on something different and listen to Wayfinder.
The opening track, titled “Awakening,” is an electronic-based song featuring lesser-known instruments like the sitar. The instrument paints an ethnic, worldly picture and allows us to experience music unlike we have before. Assani is a fantastic sitar player; his musicianship is on-point. There’s never a point in the song where I feel like maybe an instrument’s volume needs to be reduced or another instrument’s volume needs to be increased.
The second track, “Serendipity,” opens with a bass-heavy introduction, then becomes more upbeat. Sonically, the song is incredibly catchy. The instrumentation is so worldly and unique; it’s unlike any music I’ve heard before.
“Black Sugar” is more low-key and decorated with beautiful instrumentation including the sitar. The dynamics of the song are well-thought-out. The track has a darker side to it, but it fits well within the song.
On “Lullaby For Guli”, the song is slightly more mellow, even melancholy, compared to the other tracks we’ve heard so far. The instrumentation allows for each instrument to blend well together for an effortless sound. The dynamics are fantastic, as no instrument outdoes another and vice versa. It is a very mellow song and I love the change in tempos from more upbeat tracks to a more mellow song.
Perhaps one of my favorite tracks on the EP is “Darbari Dub.” It has this darker, mysterious vibe to the track, especially at the beginning. Compared to some of the other songs, it’s less upbeat, but it doesn’t have that same melancholy and mellow sound from “Lullaby For Guli.”
The last track on the EP is “Transit.” This is a completely different vibe. There is more sitar, more instrumentation, and just overall, a very vibrant, worldly feel to the song. It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before and I just love how unique it is. It makes you really think about what music really is.
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