NITIN SAWHNEY ANNOUNCES ‘DYSTOPIAN DREAM’ RELEASE DATE AND UK TOUR
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Photo: Original painting of Nitin Sawhney by Paul Benney
Reservoir multi-instrumentalist and composer, Nitin Sawhney, announces release of his tenth studio album, Dystopian Dream set to debut on November 6. The album, his first in four years, is a true departure from his previous cannon of work and features eclectic and darker contemporary undertones. Lead single, ‘When I’m Gone’ showcases this blistering blues-rock with help from vocalists Stealth, J’Danna, Eva Stone, and Joss Stone, all featured on the album. Sawhney kicks off a six-city UK tour in support of ‘Dystopian Dream’ on November 15th. Read the press release in full below:
Nitin Sawhney has announced the release of his new album Dystopian Dream through Postiv-ID on November 6. His first new studio album in four years and also his tenth, Dystopian Dream brings together the full breadth of Sawhney’s 360 degree global panorama in his strongest and most refreshing affirmation to date. Led by new single, When I’m Gone featuring Stealth, the album is set to become a fully choreographed show with the innovative and hugely talented Wang-Ramirez Company. A raft of UK dates has also been announced in support of the album, including London’s Heaven on Tuesday, November 17.
A distinct departure from Sawhney’s previous 9 studio albums, Dystopian Dream focuses on Sawhney’s familiar motifs of personal identity and swooping world-views, but this time driven by more cathartic themes of loss, isolation, surrender and perseverance. Featuring a bluesier, darker, more contemporary influence, the album is a modern homage to Massive Attack’s classic “Protection” album in its eclecticism and production values.
Besides the customary virtuosic instrumentals, this is a true singer’s album, featuring a blistering blues-rock earth-shaker on first single ‘When I’m Gone’ with powerful young vocalist Stealth, a hypnotically husky performance from teenage newcomer J’Danna, “BBC Introducing” graduate, Eva Stone, and a drum ‘n’ bass turn from Joss Stone. Virtually all of Sawhney’s acclaimed band and singers also feature, fresh from this year’s televised performance at the Latitude Festival and last year’s sell out show at The Royal Albert Hall.
A gut-wrenching bird’s eye perspective on world events distilled into a personal epiphany, Dystopian Dream origins lie in the loss of Sawhney’s father in 2013 and the deaths of several friends and mentors. Says Sawhney, “I became increasingly disillusioned with the hypocritical world of politics, with immigrants (like my parents) once more being scapegoated and austerity measures being used to bludgeon the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society. I found these feelings of despair about political and social injustices being blamed on immigrants were being amplified constantly in the news.”
Sawhney consequently went on Channel 4 News to speak out against the election of UKIP’s Mark Reckless in his childhood hometown of Rochester in Kent. That prejudice against the poor and vulnerable felt like a ubiquitous infection to Sawhney. Internationally, he lamented the deaths of countless children in the streets of Gaza; “shockingly what to me was unilateral genocide was being described by the world media as ‘war’”. It was as if the cold macrocosm of world events was reflecting his own personal sadness and sense of loss. As Sawhney’s life dramatically darkened, this album emerged – convoluting global events with an inescapable sense of frustration and personal turmoil.
Nitin Sawhney was always a musical pioneer. From spearheading the 90’s “Asian Underground” movement with his ground-breaking and Mercury-nominated album, “Beyond Skin”, to seminal international collaborations with contemporary dance innovator, Akram Khan, (choreographer of 2012 Olympics) Sawhney is relentless in his pursuit of new sounds and boundless musical vocabularies. Along with hosting 4 BBC2 radio series of “Nitin Sawhney Spins the Globe”, and winning a host of awards since his last album release, Sawhney has also appeared as an “industry expert” on Sky’s flagship series “Guitar Star”, and is currently scoring the entire orchestral soundtrack for Warner Bros’ hugely anticipated film “Jungle Book Origins” (Directed by Andy Serkis and featuring Andy Serkis, Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Freida Pinto, Cate Blanchett and Peter Mullan).
Sawhney will play the following shows in support of Dystopian Dream:
Sun 15th Nov – Brighton, Concorde II Wed 18th Nov – Birmingham, Library at the Institute
Mon 16th Nov – Bristol, Trinity Thur 19th Nov – Glasgow, Art School
Tue 17th Nov – London, Heaven Fri 20th Nov – Manchester, Gorilla
