:: Shyama - 9 Moons Walking

Shyama

I’ll be upfront and say that I really didn’t know much history behind this release prior to listening to it. And after listening to the album countless times, I’m none the wiser. What I do know is that Shyama is essentially a one man show comprising of Alfred Lawrence (who now goes under the full name of Shyamananda), who’s previous claim to fame was as a member of Acoustic Black and Incast, before abandoning the music scene altogether in search of enlightenment and the meaning of his own existence. Shyama has obviously picked up many stories throughout the years since his move away from the music scene, and now that he’s collated those experiences into a conceptually based album, it’s not surprising to find that his debut offering ‘9 Moons Walking’ is anything but a straight forward listen. The up-tempo ‘Against The Grain’ is a perfect example of just how hard it is to pin down Shyama’s sound in a few words. Part pop, part psychedelic rock and odd and downright quirky in places, Shyama’s musical vision is unashamedly retro in feel and delivery, but without sounding like he’s trying too hard to do so in the process. The laid back ‘Ugly Place’ is by far one of the stronger efforts on the album, with the sparse instrumentation and Shyama’s half spoken vocals creating a suitably relaxed atmosphere, while the strange and all over the shop like tunes ‘Chemical Arrest’, ‘Valley Of Death’ and ‘Sonic Aura’ are definite picks on the album. On the instrumental front, the album contains no less that six tracks without the addition of vocals, with the classically influenced three part trilogy ‘Goodness, Passion, Ignorance’ and the easy going ‘Tomorrow’s Yesterday’ the best on offer. While ‘9 Moons Walking’ has a lot of interesting ideas scattered throughout its thirteen tracks, it is inevitably letdown most by the album’s overall lack of cohesive direction. For a debut, ‘9 Moons Walking’ is quite an accomplished effort. But should there be a follow-up release, I have no doubt Shyama’s next effort will overshadow the rather flawed ‘9 Moons Walking’.