Music
Chart Topping Artist Ram Dass Explores The Depths Of The Human Experience In ‘And Now He Has Wings’ EP
And Now He Has Wings is sonic poetry embodying life’s most profound triumphs and tragedies through intricate, vivid folk soundscapes.
Soulful folk singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Ram Dass delivers a collection of 5 strikingly emotional tracks on his upcoming EP, And Now He Has Wings, out December 3rd. The artist is in the midst of his return to the commercial music community following the success of his 2014 collaboration, “From Within,” with Nirinjan Kaur and Matthew Schoening which premiered at #1 on the Apple New Age Music charts. And Now He Has Wings is a deeply personal project that captures the raw emotions inherent to life’s most impactful moments of beauty and pain; ultimately, it vulnerably details Ram Dass’ experience processing the grief and recovery following the loss of his newborn son. Several of the songs on this EP were recorded in collaboration with the band AWARÉ. Hypnotic, stripped production speaks to the soul of listeners on every track. The artist – with a background primarily as a producer and studio musician – masterfully weaves harmony capturing the emotional intricacies of his experience with a stunning integrity communicating feelings beyond words. He delivers brilliant musical reflections of formative moments from this emotional time in his life, each track embodying different elements of the story.
Credits:
Composed by Ram Dass Khalsa, Bogdan Djukic, Matias Da Viá
Ram Dass Khalsa: Nylon Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals, Drum Programming, Clarinet, Producer, Engineer
Bogdan Djukic: Drum programming, Violin, Vocals, Percussion, Electric Guitar
Matías De Via: Vocals
Jared May: Bass
KJ Song: Backing Vocals
Piper Payne: Mastering Engineer
Bogdan Djukic: Drum programming, Violin, Vocals, Percussion
Larena Nellies-Ortiz: Photographer
The self-produced and recorded introduction to the EP, “Elegy For A Yellow Bird,” is a delicate instrumental track bearing a heavy-hearted recount of discovering and nursing an injured baby bird back to health shortly after the passing of their child. For Ram Dass, this story represents the deep compassion for those around him that was exemplified by his devastating loss. Ethereal strings mingle with melancholic fingerpicking on “To Be Born,” the second track on the EP that embodies an optimistic message of finding light through suffering, in spite of pain. This track beautifully captures the essence of the EP, which for the songwriter, represented “his experience of finding beauty and joy within grief.” He learned that “happiness does not preclude having hard feelings, but rather includes them.” Ram Dass concludes the EP with the title track, “And Now He Has Wings,” a stunning composition exploring the experience of death. “I wanted to show this process as a musical painting,” he says, “and tell the story of someone releasing their human form and growing ‘wings’ into another realm.”
Listeners can stream And Now He Has Wings on all major streaming platforms on December 3rd.
Ram Dass experiences music as spiritually and emotionally restorative. His music opens the heart and stirs the soul. As a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter, he inspires a unique potency through collaboration and improvisation that creates art greater than the sum of its parts. His constant dedication to render the beauty of human experience, triumph, tragedy, and beyond, has led him to the world stage. He performed at the 2019 GRAMMY Awards, has played at Carnegie Hall, and continues to perform at venues around the world every year.
Ram Dass is at the forefront of a movement of musicians aiming to bring healing and solace to the world. He produced his last collaboration, From Within, with Nirinjan Kaur and Matthew Schoening, in 2014. It premiered at #1 on the Apple New Age Music charts. In 2021, he is once again drawn to create a series of collaborative musical projects born from his own deeply personal human experience of joy and sorrow.
Born into a family of professional classical musicians, Ram Dass was raised to appreciate all musical genres and find the unique nuances of every song and composition he heard. He developed a near-encyclopedic knowledge of wide swaths of the musical landscape, which he calls upon to create novel and moving approaches to music production and songwriting.
Album Review
Brynja Rán finds clarity in complicated relationships on “Unblurred” [album]
It can be hard to see when a relationship no longer meets your emotional needs, especially when affection, uncertainty, and repeated disappointment are hard to untangle. “Unblurred,” an album built on the bedrock of emotional unavailability, recurring conflict, and the slow dawning that a relationship might need to end, is where Brynja Rán unpacks that difficult process.
The ten songs follow the arc of attachment and frustration, weaving together the story of someone trying to figure out what they deserve. The focus track, “Unblurred Lines,” hits on the album’s central concept. This is when the veils begin to fall, and the person is more ready to see the partner’s behavior for what it is. The song is musically rich, with an acoustic and electric guitar soundscape, synthesizers, bass guitar, drums, and additional instrumentation.
The surrounding songs view the same emotional landscape from different angles. “Cowboy Wannabe” explores a partner masking insecurity with a detached personality, and “Deja Vu” captures the frustration of arguments that go round and round without changing anything. “Adore” is about ignoring red flags when you’re that into something, and “Cherry” is about the temporary comfort of being in a relationship that just isn’t right.
The album opens up by looking at borders and the need for real connection. “Make Me Feel” is about wanting to be loved, and “Until” is about how long you should stay in the twilight zone. “Still Stuck Waiting” captures the frustration of waiting for communication and commitment. “Don’t You Leave” begins with fear of abandonment and moves toward healing, while “What Else” ends the record with emotional exhaustion and a desire to move on.
Rather than treating every experience as a one-off event, the tracklist of “Unblurred” attempts to create a single image of relationship troubles. With this release, Brynja Rán explores unhealthy patterns, boundaries, and getting the clarity to choose a different path.
Album Review
Legends of the Seven Golden Vampires explore healing and personal growth on “The Pumphouse of Broken Dreams” [album]
Albums often have a strong sense of identity, with songs linking to a broader emotional and musical direction. The nine-song album “The Pumphouse of Broken Dreams” by Legends of the Seven Golden Vampires, featuring Dutch vocalist Ilse Van Der Linden front and center, is more cohesive.
The band’s melodic psychedelic pop offers a welcome counterpoint to a project that explores recovery, longing, uncertainty, and personal growth. The tracklist is an emotional journey. “To Think, To Heal” starts with the idea of mental healing and moving on from the past. “Flying” is more of an escapist wish to escape the pressures of day-to-day life. “Come Home” is about finding comfort and belonging.
“Here I Am” is about self-awareness and openness. Together, these early songs form an album about finding stability and processing difficult experiences. The middle ground is more emotionally layered. “Hopelessly Devoted To You” is about being attached all the time, and “Lost & Burned” is about being worn out and the results of hard experiences. Then there is “In My Dreams,” which turns into memory and unfulfilled wishes. Later, “AIR” brings the need for freedom, air, space, and a new start.
It ends with “BLEND,” a combination of psychedelic, shoegaze, and electronic influences. The release also includes another visual element from Gareth Halliday, who also worked on Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Who Built The Moon. “The Pumphouse of Broken Dreams” has softer vocals and a range of emotions. This album is deliberately constructed, moving from reflection to acceptance without losing the variety of experiences it tackles.
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