At last a Spanish band that brings -with a New Age flavour and an excellent quality- splendid songs in one of the best albums that has nothing to envy to international instrumental music. Terra is made up of seven musicians that will transpose you with their electronic, classic and folk music to a missed land, a land where freedom, beauty and nature reign. Among the twelve soft, relaxing and glooming themes we find a warm and soft voice. We want to emphasize on "Paradís de les cigonyes" a song extracted from the television program "Hidrogen". Carles Reig and Ricard V.Pons composed most of the pieces included in this album, except for "El mago" (The Wizard) in which Julia Claire helped them. The strange thing about this is that they respected the title of every song in the language that was written. So we find songs written in Spanish, Catalan, English, and Arabic. The musicians that took part in this recording are: Chandra Naraine (ethnic percussion), Julia Claire (lead vocal), Jordi Pauli (soprano and tenor sax), Ernesto Briceño (acoustic and electric violin), Juan José Barreda (Spanish guitar), Irene Cesar (backing vocals) Xumo (backing vocals) y Mustafá (backing vocals in the song 'N'zo M'Da'). This production made on last year December is launched now hoping it will have a great receiving among the new age audience.
CARLOS GARCIA MAÑÉ

"Searching" song reveiw by Steve Gilmore at
Soundclick´s critics Corner Forum

Sirisat Julia Claire - Searching 'Ong Namo'
Album Celestial

I have to admit I was highly skeptical (oops almost wrote sceptical which
is another thing entirely) with this whole 'Friends' lark Soundclick has
been running but - surprisingly enough - the silly thing actually works.
I've met some great new people since I started really working the whole
MySoundclick: Members Pages thingie, many of them eye opening musicians
and an indication of how Soundclick never fails to deliver some very
surprising musicians.

Sirisat Julia Claire has been one of my new finds and I just thought I'd
give you guys the heads up too. Judging by her interview page, she has
been active in the real world for some time, even having a couple of
albums released a while ago and she's working with a whole raft of other
musicians (Carles Reig, Pep Rius and Ernesto Briceño) - all connected in
some way to Ohm Records (www.ohmm.com)

Yep, Julia is a yoga teacher/singer/dancer from the beautiful city of
Barcelona in Spain, and her musical work is informed by her philosophy so
expect some extremely chilled-out music for body and soul.

Ahhh now your looking a lot more interested...

As you should be because, no matter what your preference, a track where
everything happens just so is a prime candidate for attracting attention.
Despite its obviously spiritual overtones and approach, Searching Ong Namo
is a instantly likeable track any level you care to name.

Welcoming and warm in the way Enya often is, although I have to say
having evoked that image, Sirisat (and musical mainstay/producer Carles
Reig) operate on an entirely different level.

For sure there is a massive European influence stylistically and lyrically
- and another reference my brain made was to Ilona, who operates in much
the same musical field. However, as is usual, time and repeated plays
really cracked this gem of a track open and although I don't normally go
for this kind of thing, the musical muscle on display in this track is
absolutely terrific, and worth the listen alone. The breakdown just after
7:00 in particular being a joy in and of itself.

However good (nay stunning) the music and production are, they are still
topped by Sirisat Julia's incredibly professional singing (and a very nice
video she makes too). Let me put it like this, if you can't get past the
first minute of this track, then the whole eight minutes and change it
runs for will be of no use to you.

You will not have recognised the skill, patience and dedication it took to
bring this to your ears and I would guess your life would be poorer for
it. In this world of home/garage recording it's a pleasure to hear 'the
real thing' and done so well, the only thing you need to worry about is
whether you will like the style.

There again, it covers so much musical ground in it's length, that I'm
sure almost anybody could find a bit they liked. Personally, I think there
is a huge market for such material, and it's nice to know that at least
I've heard one of the very best - in every way.

If it sounds like I love this track, I do but I am professional enough to
look REAL hard at anything I could pick apart and there isn't anything.
At all. Seamless, that's the word.

STYLE

New age chill with female vocals and bright, clean instrumentation. Mantra Chillout features lucid acoustic guitars, pianos, strings and flutes all warmly combined along with soft electronics to form tuneful backdrops against which Julia Claire's gentle voice echoes and breezes. There are instrumental passages where perhaps an electric guitar works an emotive lead or a doleful flute hangs in the air. Mostly the music is easy listening and restful - lyrics built around Indian teachings and beliefs are accompanied by English language (or occasionally Spanish) musings. All the tracks are carried by prominent beats that I assume to be programmed, but nonetheless are arranged in the style of live drumming. These beats are relaxing downtempo rhythms that maintain the inviting tranquillity of the music and words.

ARTWORK

In colours and imagery similar to the twin album Celestial, Mantra Chillout features soft focus shots of the artist, endless white skies above, beds of petals below - a luminous tangerine glow bathing everything in summer warmth. A track list appears on the rear with timings against each title. Inside is a generous eight page booklet where five panels are given over to lyrics set out against more hazy, translucent artist and petal imagery. A sepia toned studio portrait of artist and producer backs an explanation of the project in Spanish, the final page holding another shot of the duo, this time above credits and contact details.

OVERALL

This CD is a 'popular' version of Sirisat's Celestial album with shorter radio friendly versions of most pieces plus a couple of extra tracks by producer Carles Reig - "Vidas Plateadas", in Spanish, and "Ohm Spirit Sound" with English lyrics. The album falls primarily into the 'new age' category and will appeal to listeners fond of Asian imagery and the female voice.