Karavan Sarai - Torn in Love (2020)

Karavan Sarai is a bridge fusing ancient global melodies and dance from the artistry of the Silk Road with lush modern electronics. The group’s soundscapes travel from Arabia to India, the Balkans, and Persia across distinct compositions. The sound seamlessly links musical impulses with the heart of ancient rhythms. Listen and hear the echoes of old world footsteps in the group’s songs. Karavan Sarai forges ahead where the tracks end. This is deep fusion.

The group’s latest album, Torn in Love, exudes mystical energy. Songwriter Narayan Sijan found his inspiration for album opener “Garden of Embers” and the slow-burning “Moonless Nile” in Egyptian Sufism. Meanwhile, the title track travels through a suite of pieces, featuring Turkish Sufi elements, a Kabbalah-inspired melody, and an original devotional chant. The album closes with “Whirling Sand”, a catchy work of Egyptian folk music.

Growing up in a family of famous artists, Sijan felt a calling from boyhood that drew him toward his Balkan heritage and ancient cultures across Asia and the Middle East. He started saving every penny he could, and when he was old enough for the journey he set off. From 1994 through 2004, at times surviving on only $100 a month and living from a small backpack, Sijan traveled the Silk Road regions, learning directly from the masters he met. “I was on the hunt for the melodies that moved my heart and soul” explains Sijan. Guided by various master musicians, he would spend the day, dawn to dusk, studying what they taught him. Sijan still returns to the region for extended stays and lived in Egypt for eight months while making Torn In Love. Adding the intoxicating sounds of the arghoul, an ancient instrument first depicted on the walls of Third Dynasty temples (2,500 BC), for this album with prestigious Ghajr “gypsy” musician Amin Shahin from the Nile Delta in Egypt. Also adding live percussion with Marshall Bodiker, who teaches and performs in conjunction with Sahara Dance Studios and world renowned Bellydancer Shahrzad.

Sijan joined his mastery of Egyptian oud and Turkish saz (baglama) and vocals with choreographer and dancer Schirin Chams-Diba, and two-time GRAMMY nominee electronic musician and producer Carmen Rizzo (Seal, Paul Oakenfold, Niyaz) to create their debut album Woven Landscapes (2015).The record reached #6 on the CMJ World Music Charts and lead to festival performances at Symbiosis and Lighting in a Bottle.

Their next release Painted Sands (2018) peaked at #4, spending over 10 weeks in the top ten world music charts (NACC). Following the release Karavan Sarai was featured at large festivals around the world, including Spirit of Tengri in Kazakhstan, Bali Spirit Fest in Indonesia and Lighting in a Bottle in California. They have performed at cultural art centers such as Makan, Cairo Jazz Club in Cairo, Egypt and CoSM (Alex Grey) in New York, and healing art retreats such as The Sanctuary in Thailand.

Torn In Love continues the melodic journey, transporting listeners to a world of mystical melodies echoing across time and space, lacing together something ancient and deeply human that resides in all of us. Melding ancient melodies with modern electronics, Karavan Sarai invites us to explore the stories of these faded caravan roads, this golden corridor of cultural exchange. As Sijan puts it, “I am forever in awe and humbled by the meditative power of music and its celebratory, healing, and mystical properties. I wish to bring listeners around that same fire, to hear the web for themselves.”





Tracklist:
01. Karavan Sarai - Garden of Embers (5:10)
02. Karavan Sarai - Hidden Love (4:45)
03. Karavan Sarai - Torn in Love (5:41)
04. Karavan Sarai - Possessed Love (4:07)
05. Karavan Sarai - Moonless Nile (5:41)
06. Karavan Sarai - Whirling Sand (5:00)