[some self disclosure: if i wasn’t in a kirtan band, i’m not sure i’d love this album as much as i do. but i am, so i do.]
Prince Rama/Trust Now/Paw Tracks/2011
Trust Now may only have six songs, but this is no quick, little, forgettable album. These six songs are mighty, full, and large. Trust Now is the Brooklyn based deep psych-experimental band’s fifth full length album, and is produced by Scott Colburn who also produced albums from the Arcade Fire and Animal Collective. That should begin to give you an idea about where this music is going, but it really only taps the surface. The duo of sisters that make up Prince Rama were raised in Hare Krishna community and use Eastern mantras (“Summer of Love” is full of ‘rama sita’s’) mixed with English throughout nearly every song. The music is Eastern inspired too; entrancing, harmonic, and interestingly repetitive (think a Bollywood soundtrack slowed down meets Animal Collective with alto vocals). Every song is so expansive that this is the sort of album listeners can continue to find surprises in. Trust Now is refreshingly unique and Prince Rama continues to create a really distinctive and creative sound that should inspire non-experimental music listeners to give it another chance.
Recommended: 1, 3, 6, 5
FCC: clean
