In Search Of Media

Released: March 15, 2024

Genre: Jazz

From: US

Label: Native Rebel Recordings

Why you should listen: ganavya’s music feels transcendant in many ways. Emotionally potent and always with so much soul, her music is utterly hypnotic, and her new album like the sky I’ve been too quiet is among her most poignant and stunning so far. It’s the meditative, meandering synths and her compelling and gentle voice that captures the intensity in emotion throughout this 13-track album. From the haunting and chilling opening “not in an anthropological mood” to the hypnotic, string-driven “I walk again, eyes towards the Sky”, the album is full of hypnotic, transcendent and deeply moving moments, with mesmerising vocals that add both a gentleness to the atmosphere and tone of the music, as well as a sense of desperation and a cry for help. With all the horrible, awful, colonial shit that’s been happening recently, this album really does feel like medicine in the best possible way. It’s a cleanser, as ganavya brings some incredible musicians to her world, including Shabaka Hutchings, Floating Points, Balimaya Project band leader Yahael Camara Onono, and Mercury-nominated bassist Tom Herber. “first notebook of songs” sounds like a full meditation, with incredible synths and strings that capture an intensity and beauty in the track, with ganavya’s emotive and stunning vocals throughout, while the harp on “forgive me my” evokes this intense feeling of warmth, with an embrace that is comforting and so ethereal. “seal” is stunning too, with jittering electronica, thumping drumming and ganavya’s intense vocal contribution making this track an overwhelming one. The tribal nature of the rhythms throughout are just incredible. “el kebda, let it go” is an incredible track, with a gorgeous meditative sound that reverberates throughout, while the instrumental and electronic instrumentation on “our mother is our daughter is our mother” is stunning with ganavya’s gorgeous, reflective and entrancing vocals. “(sister said) home is a direction” is uplifting and beautiful, with its slow, meandering synths and wind instrumentation that perfectly capture a spiritual calling. The rumbling and urgency of the poem on “call her by her name, enheduanna” makes it an eerie listen, while the gentleness of “growing sense of wonder” makes for another utterly moving moment on the album. There’s so much more to digest and immerse myself into, but ganavya’s like the sky I’ve been too quiet is a spellbinding, stunning, immersive and healing new album from an artist that is making some of the most interesting spiritual jazz today.

The album: