Album Review: Radhika Shankar - "Moira"
- Steven L. Walker - Just Vibin'
- Feb 17, 2014
- 3 min read
Right now (while writing this blog), I'm having the pleasure of reviewing an album of an artist from New Delhi, India, and her name is Radhika Shankar. She is a Singer/Songwriter and her songs and music fall into the "Trip-Hop" genre. Her album is titled, "MOIRA", which in Greek Mythology means destiny or fate.
The first song on the eight track album is Not Fair, which is a smooth silky ballad, with a nice back beat. Radhika uses her silky sensual voice in this song and it sounds nice...reminds me of the late great Minnie Riperton. There are two different tempos in the song, creating scenes and different feelings in the song. Nice take. In Stop...I loved the track from the jump. The production on this track is sweet... drums are nice and funky, guitars, bass and leads are layered nice in the song. Radhika's voice is just so easy to listen to and her vocal range in the song is perfect...not too much...just the right amount of climbing. As in Stop, Pretense got me from the start. It's a beautiful love song and the trumpets give it a slightly jazz, blues feel. Love the vocals and arrangement. Funky and groovy is what Is It is. So far, all of Radhika's songs are fitting right in place on the album. I'm feeling this. Radhika's vocal delivery in Red Eye starts off in a laid back feel...explaining, then it comes in with yet another funky, groovy sensation and her vocal vibe slightly picks up and is structured to get to the true meaning of the song. Radhika is Guilty of feeling love and all the other great things that she feels...because it feels so great. I love the underlying voices that accompany her in certan parts of the track. Nice song with great use of instruments (sounds). The title track, Moira gives way to a beautiful saxophone that plays mostly throughout the song. It's a great track with, of course, Radhika's great vocals. She says in the song that "You're my Moira"...which again means destiny or fate. I learned something new. Well, two things...a new word and a great song/album! The last song is appropriately titled, Happiness, and that's what I found in reviewing and listening to this album. Radhika uses a mellow vibe to delivery this song and it's very sweet sounding. It's also very relaxing and actually allows one the opportunity to just think about life and being happy.
Honestly, when I prepped to review this album, I didn't know what to expect, considering I had never heard of Radhika nor any of her music prior to this review. I must truly say that I thoroughly enjoyed every song and will definitely be putting the entire album in my playlist. The songs are timed and placed just right on the album. And even if they weren't, any order would still work. The entire production is great. I highly highly recommend that you go over to her Soundcloud page or Reverbnation page and listen to the entire tracks of the songs, then go to either iTunes or Amazon and download the entire album. Also, should you go to her Reverbnation page and download, you can elect to donate to the Keep A Child Alive Charity, which is Radhika's choice to make charitable donations.
From Radhika's Official Website:
MOIRA was born out of my love for trip-hop. There's just something about a groovy back beat, a relaxed tempo, very 'real' sounds of live instruments melded on a bed of eclectic electronic sounds... The lyrics are relatable, the voice, the girl next door. Somewhere in all this, I hope to strike a chord with you...
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