Niles Hollowell-Dhar aka KSHMR is a name which needs no introduction. Niles has contributed enormously to the musical space directly and indirectly. Tracks like Burn and Secrets are still doing the damage on the dancefloors while his creations with Indian classical influences like Jammu and Paradesi EP are innovatively captivating.
His live sets are nothing less of a visual and an aural treat as he doesn’t play just a set, he takes the audience on a journey with his stories full of drama and action, building the music and visuals around it. In a similar manner, Niles creates a masterpiece of an EP full of anticipation and quality music from a story he wrote for his little brother. Hence, we have The Lion Across The Field, a multiple tracks EP filled with ups and downs accommodated with suitable music and narrated interludes to deliver the listeners smoothly to the next phase of the story.
Starting off with an interlude titled “The Boy“, the story initiates about a boy of the age full of curiosity. The boy chases the birds as they move quickly. The orchestral music is full of impacts and anticipating plucky sounds, as it delivers us to “Jungle Whistle”.
Indian classical flute melody pierces through the mix as “Jungle Whistle” initiates. Soon accompanied by string sounds and blowing-elements-like synths, the electronic influences catch up and build up to an energetic KSHMR style drop. The string chords take the building place in the next half and takes us to the next part. It’s not a KSHMR track without adorable vocal chops and shouts, and this masterpiece is no exception in that case.
Then comes ‘Sleepwalk‘ with catchy vocal chops backed by saturated string chords. The flute melody builds up and drops with a relatively low tempo progressive drop full of plucks and sliding lead melody. The vocal sample in an East Asian language appears at times and warms up the atmosphere. The organic elements so far are strong with this EP!
The next interlude appears in the form of “A Father’s Warning” as the story tells that the father warns the boy about a lion living in the wild. This leads to the known single off the EP, ‘Wildcard‘. The 20s feels are strong with this one as the vocals are perfectly edited for the retro feel. The string-inspired synths are adding to the vibes as the buildup leads to the energetic drop.
After another interlude titled “A Thing to Forget” which unleashes the imaginations of the boy, the EP unleashes another strings-and-blowing-instruments-infused track titled “Dadima“. KSHMR’s special sliding melody technique blends with vocals chops here and takes us further higher! Violin fitted perfectly with plucky strings is giving the best of both the dimensions. As it ends with a perfect breakdown, the vision and imagination are impeccable with this track.
The beautiful collaboration with Felix Snow, ‘Touch‘ is next in the form of KSHMR’s lush and wavy VIP Remix. This low tempo progressive piece is indeed excellent! The next interlude “The Son’s Dissent” conveys that the boy has had enough of the fear, as he runs into the wild and with that, a dark track ‘Dhoom‘ is unleashed.
‘Dhoom‘ starts off with a bang and gets straight to the point with an intense buildup with Sitar-ish melody and sets a monster of a drop free! As the track hits a breakdown, the atmosphere again starts building with dark vocal shots and samples dipped in reverb. The drop is highly energetic with high paced notes creating a chaos!
The next interlude “The Lion” takes us to the climax of the story. The boy runs to the end of the field and finds no lion. As he moves towards the pond there, he sees the lion in the water only to find out that it’s his own reflection!
“The Hymn of Reflection” starts with heavenly flutes, soon accompanied by piano and KSHMR’s signature plucks, forming a perfect low tempo track. Backed by piano and clean guitar riffs, the track progresses through perfect vocals chops, shouts and a beautiful drop which is impossible not to move your body to. As it concludes the EP, the things cool down gradually and ends with a spellbinding guitar tune accompanied by atmospheric pads, vocal chants and a touch of tribal percussion.
“The Lion Across The Field” is a beautiful creation by one of the finest artists that dance music has ever seen. The Indian classical influences merged with electronic styles is taking both the domains to a new level. This EP is indeed groundbreaking as it signifies the rise of Indian and other Eastern musical influences in the dance music paradigm. With artists like Varien, Headhunterz and more heading the same path, this further solidifies its stand.
The Lion Across The Field is out now via Spinnin’ Records and make sure you grab your copy from here. Don’t forget to check out the visual story of the EP in this video below!
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