Surya Chants of Light CD by Nadaka & Gopika

The best way to enjoy chant music is to not sit down and study it, but to put it on and relax, or meditate, and let it work its magic on you. This is the way to get the most out of a CD such as SURYA CHANTS OF LIGHT by the duo Nadaka & Gopika. They sing/chant vedic mantras in a traditional vocal style that has been passed down in India for thousands of years by special priests.

“These mantras carry deep hidden truths,” explains Gopika. “When chanted in their original form they can stimulate the higher mind, rejuvenate the body and bring a sense of infinity to the soul. The magic lies in reaching beyond the mental sphere to touch a realm where these sound-syllables and their intonation combine to create a transcending experience. These mantras remain a timeless expression of our human aspiration to experience a sense of oneness with the universe.”

Another interesting aspect of this recording is that the very light and gentle backing music was created by Nadaka (who has eight previous albums out) on what he calls his raga geet-tar which he designed. One minute it sounds like a regular acoustic guitar, then you would swear it is a hollow-body jazz guitar, and before he is through he is playing it like a sitar or some other Indian trad stringed-instrument with drone strings and micro-notes and all those non-Western-music variations.

They both have beautiful voices. At times they sing together, other times they take turns in the spotlight, and a couple of the tunes feature just one or the other (the last track is an instrumental). Many times they really are singing and going beyond the sort of nasally, repetitive, drone chanting that we hear so much of.

It all makes for a fresh, worthwhile, stimulating album. Even if you don’t understand sanskrit.