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| Susheela Raman has a problem on her hands. If 'Love Trap' had been her first album, there would be no doubt that world music listeners would heap deserved praise upon her. Unfortunately, it comes after her debut album 'Salt Rain' - an album that defied criticism by being so blinding in its' perfection - that anything that came after would certainly not hold up very well against the first record. Thats exactly the dilemma she is faced with on this record. Its certainly very lush and experimental, but coming as it does after 'Salt Rain', its clearly subpar on most levels. This was one record I was waiting for with baited breath. Having discovered Susheela's music in 2000, I have spent much time tracking down home recordings of her UK Concerts and even investing in creating an online community dedicated to her music and vision, which is why the sophomore slump I have witnessed with 'Love Trap' is a very bitter pill indeed. On the surface, the record shimmers. There are more world musicians playing on each track than the previous album, and there are varied new sources of musical inspiration - the usual suspects still appear - Dikshitar and Thyagaraja - but there are some newer ones such as the 1960s Hindi singer Mukesh, and older forms of hymns sung to Lord Shiva, in ancient Tamil. I was really hoping that she wouldn't go overboard with the 'more spice the better' theory that ruined Azam Ali's 'Portals of Grace', but she went and did it anyway. There are just too many musicians on this record (most disturbingly evinced on the title track) and the end result is pretty by most Narada or Real World Standards, but when you know Susheela is capable of far more superior work, this comes as a crushing disappointment. The title track, "Love Trap" is based on a 1970s Ethiopian folk song by local legend Mahmoud Ahmed, but Susheela adds some 1960s British jazz to it and it sounds unlike anything I've heard from her thus far. Its definitely not a classic by any means, but if the intention was just to experiment with new sounds, then they've done a pretty reasonable job. The next two songs are my favorites - 'Amba' and 'Sarasa', both sung in Telugu, and though Susheela's diction would make any native Telugu speaker burst into mortified laughter (indeed, the ones I played 'Nagumomo' to were speechless for all the wrong reasons), it does lend the music a quaint something. It must be noted that Raman scores best when she makes use of stripped down instrumentation and these two songs are wonderful tributes to her musical style - I can find no shortcomings in them at all. However, Susheela's trysts with the English language do not always meet with the same success. Her rendition of Joan Armatrading's "Save Me" - already a weak melody - does in no manner flatter her. I find it a shame that Susheela chooses her English language covers so carelessly. Her first album had "Trust in Me" from 'The Jungle Book' and I cringed through it a few times before I got used to it. On "Save Me", the entire track is too boring in both essence and delivery to even merit a place on this album. A very puzzling choice indeed. To her credit, Susheela is most evidently the master of her territory when shes singing in South Indian languages. She is not a native Hindi speaker, and her father John Raman is a Tamilian, which explains why her Tamil and Telugu tracks feel more relaxed and subdued - less made-up. The stunning final track 'Blue Lily Red Lotus' is a hymn to Shiva sung in Tamil, and its' buildup is definitely worth the wait. The song is a smooth lullaby of sorts, and just when you think shes done, native Dravidian drums take over in a frenzy of incomparable rhythms - never have I witnessed such harmony of instruments since a bright spot on the Afro Celts' second album - bringing the album to a glorious close. On the way, there are some tracks that are worthy of mention. The sleek feel of "Bliss", again an Ode to God, that is at once soothing and empowering. Her "Half Shiva Half Shakti" is a spellbinding ballad with some great instrumentation. The Andra track 'Sakhi Maro' is another song that stands out. But these highlights pale when the deficiencies in 'Love Trap' emerge. The worst of the lot has got to be her over-the-top rendition of "Yeh Mera Diwanapan Hai" (literally 'This is my craziness'), a 60s track made popular by Indian singer Mukesh in the film 'Yahudi'. I speak fluent Hindi, yet when I first listened to the track I had no clue that it was the language Susheela was singing in. It is understandable when a singer takes a track and adds their own flavor to it, but to butcher a classic song that is beloved by millions of people is something I take issue with. Susheela's dismal Hindi pronunciation does her no favors either. If you would remember, her first album had one turkey that stood out above all the rest - a Shiva hymn in Hindi called 'Bolo Bolo Om Namah Shivay'. World Music listeners were horrified at how the traditional bhajan had been mauled by Susheela's team. Her reworking of "Yeh Mera Diwanapan Hai" is bound to attract more such criticism, and I would have to side with her critics on this one. An error of epic proportions indeed. The only saving grace on the track is the reggae feel shes tried to give it, conjuring sounds of Sade and even Fiona Apple's "The First Taste". This is not a bad album. But it is certainly a very mediocre second album. This is what happens when you have a great first record and people start expecting more from you. Susheela and Sam Mills have tried to plough familiar ground once again by including South Indian devotional songs and jazzing up some old classics, but this formulaic attitude clearly has its disadvantages as the record begins to feel disjointed and unstructured after a point. Also, one must take note of Susheela'a attempts to morph into some sort of siren for the album's cover and inner liner notes - a factor that completely jarrs with the material at hand. The Pros : Great lyrics. There is a feel of unrequited love and divine longing that runs through the record. Most of the devotional hymns that were chosen (they have also all been translated in English in the liner notes, but the original language lyrics are not included in the package) speak of union with God and a yearning to be One with the Creator. In terms of sticking to a cohesive theme, the record excels. Also, Susheela's voice, though it has lost some of the clarity since the last album, is still a fine instrument, and she uses it well. Vincent Segal and Sam Mills' instrumentation is brilliant and also 'overwhelming', but I've spoken about that earlier. The Cons : Bad Production on certain tracks. The album feels rushed and energy-less on occassion. Susheela's choice of covers and tunes need to be reworked before she works on her next record because clearly she and her producer have reached saturation point on the aspect of which direction shes needs to be headed. I found the absence of the original lyrics a real disappointment, considering that 9 of the 11 tracks are in a language other than English. "Love Trap" feels like a rushed record, but the liner notes indicate that it probably wasn't. The magic that was so to the fore on 'Salt Rain' is missing here, but it still shows up in places. I suppose if you approach this album without expecting much, you would come away with much to talk about. However, if you're a long time Susheela Raman fan, you probably know by now that this is decidedly not one of her brightest moments. |
| ALL ALONE IN TIRUCHIRAPALLI |
| The Susheela Raman "Love Trap" Album Review |
| Track List : 1. Love Trap 2. Sarasa 3. Amba 4. Save Me 5. Manusolini 6. Bliss 7. Sakhi Maro 8. Half Shiva Half Shakti 9. Dhamavati 10. Ye Meera Divanapan Hai 11. Blue Lily Red Lotus |
| Artists and Instrumentation Susheela Raman - vocals, tanpura on Love Trap /Sam Mills - guitar, drones, backing vocals on Amba Aref Durvesh - tabla, dholak and tabla tarang / Djanuno Dabo - bongos, congas, claypot, shakers, backing vocals on Love Trap, Amba, Sarasa; second lead vocal on Sarasa / Tony Allen - drums Hilaire Penda - bass / Vincent Segal - cello on Ye Meer Divanapan Hai, Manasoloni, Save Me, Blue Lily Red Lotus / Manos Achalinotopoulos - clarinet on Ye Meera Divanapan Hai, Dhamavati, Half Shiva Half Shakti, Love Trap, Kaval flute on Bliss / Albert Kuvezin - bass vocals on Manasoloni, Love Trap, Amba Radik Tiuliush - overtone vocals and igil on Manasoloni, Amba; jaw harp on Sarasa / Dorantes - piano on Dhamavati and Bliss; handclaps on Bliss / Tom Diakite - kora on Sakhi Maro / Trevor Morais - drums on Save Me / Bobby Jocky - additional bass on Bliss / Ben Mendelson - acoustic Hawaiian guitar on Sarasa, barizouki and resozouki on Save Me / Iain Ballamy - saxophone on Love Trap / Sandhya Sanjana - backing vocals on Love Trap, Sarasa, Amba / Stuart Bruce - backing vocals on Amba |
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