Inspired by the unquenchable fire of Muddy Waters’ I’m A Man Ajay Srivastav’s pre-internet journey to the heart of the blues found him singing the songs he heard on the radio to surprised record store clerks in order to get a hold of the music he wanted. The blues, Ajay says, resonated with him, but he’d grown up on pop music and Bollywood songs, and inevitably some of that would make its way into his own compositions. Nevertheless, Ajay did not become a solo artist overnight. Initially, he joined The Asian Equation, writing Asian fusion songs in Hindi and touring the world, but the age-old machinations of the music industry caught up with him, and his next step was to join Botown – a 60s style revue band that covered Bollywood songs. It was only in 2019 that Ajay stepped out on his own, releasing the well-received Karmic Blues. It was a fateful decision and now, just two years later, Ajay is back with the incredible Powerless.
Opening with The Line, Ajay immediately hooks the listener with a song that draws from early Bob Dylan, Delta Blues and Indian Folk music in roughly equal measure. Presented in a beautifully subtle mix that captures the various instruments with impressive clarity (Michael Smith), The Line is a fantastic introduction to an original album. Follow up Innocent People is no less impressive. Despite the laid-back soundtrack, there’s an undercurrent of anger and the listener is reminded that protest artists have long clothed their most pointed barbs in the most sublime of backings. Ajay’s guitar work here is particularly impressive, and his sensitive playing really adds depth to his compositions. The title track is up next and, with Kartik Raghunathan’s gorgeous, sweeping violin, the spirit of The Levellers is evoked. It’s a lovely track, but it pales next to the stunning Delta Blues of Bed Of Arrows. Built around a sweet slide riff, the track glides and swoops with remarkable grace, and it’s an album highlight. The first half of the record concludes with the nimble-fingered Break The Circle, a perfect example of the way Ajay manages to make technical skill sound effortless, with every flash of his fingers across the fretboard entirely dedicated to serving the song. With Vinod Kerai’s tabla perfectly combining with Michelle Myrie’s understated drums, Break The Circle is the sort of track you can imagine going down a storm at Glastonbury or Bearded Theory, and we can only hope we’ll catch Ajay on the live trail soon.
The second half of the album opens with the gorgeous Holy Mother, as lovely a piece of music as you could hope for, recalling the melodic nous of The Beatles and the melancholy of Tom Waits. Picking up the pace after the luscious haze of Holy Mother, Golden filters Dylan through Beck on a track that, in a just world, would be notching up airplay the world over. Deceptively simple, it’s one of those tracks that just moves into your sub-conscious and sets up shop, not least thanks to a chorus that brims over with positivity. A string quartet appears on The Path, adding further depth to the arrangement and, between this and Count Your Blessings (which also makes good use of the quartet), Ajay weaves a gently melancholy tapestry of modern life, drawing on a range of influences from the Stones and Eric Clapton to Beck and Dylan. It leaves the short, sweet Shanti (sung in Hindi) to bring the album to a peaceful close that will leave you wanting little more than to press play and sink into the album’s mesmerising melodies once again.
Powerless is a marvel of a record. The sympathetic production is entirely unforced, allowing Ajay’s subtle arrangements to shine, and the performances are ubiquitously excellent. There is anger here, but it’s well placed and Ajay has a rare skill in finding a positive way through the darkest moment, resulting in a record that leaves you feeling at peace with yourself. It is, quite simply, the most sublimely original take on blues I’ve heard this year and I cannot recommend Powerless highly enough. 9.5/10
Check out Ajay’s official website here.
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