Personnel: Deva Premal (vocals); Mite (vocals, guitar); Reiff Jr. (guitar); Maneesh (piano, keyboards); Raj Rishi (keyboards, drums, percussion).
Includes liner notes by Deva Premal.
ESSENCE is the debut album of Deva Premal, the "Chanteuse of Chant," as she has come to be known to chant lovers around the world. Premal was born in Germany and was raised in ashrams in India. Miten, her collaborator and life partner, was a music producer who gave up his successful pop career for a more spiritual life, and who originally encouraged her to sing. Together they have taken the New Age music world by storm and ESSENCE is a shining example of that success. Premal's haunting vocals and smooth, deep delivery makes her a natural to sing these ancient and sacred mantras. Her appreciation for them is evident in her sincere, heartfelt delivery. This reverence is what allows Miten to take musical license with the material and create new, dynamic compositions out of age-old mantras. Their versions of such venerable titles as "Om Nano" and "Shima Shima" show their musical ingenuity, with Premal's transcendent voice performing over unorthodox rhythms and sensual drumbeats. The Gayatri mantra is possibly the oldest known devotional song, and Premal's version creates a timeless bridge between the ancient and modern worlds. Without losing any of its poignancy, Premal and Miten make this mantra relevant for a new generation of listeners. ESSENCE is the perfect accompaniment to yoga practice, movement and dance, or for simply listening to soothing sounds of bliss.