“When I See You Naked I Smell The Earth.” It’s the tile of a track off of Opium Moon’s eponymous premiere platter and a great way to grab one’s attention (I hope.) But first, for those not up on their indie artists, a bit o’ background on the act in question.
Opium Moon
Opium Moon is a Los Angeles, California-based musical ensemble. Their above-mentioned debut disc garnered a Grammy Award nomination for “Best New Age Album” at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards (next month). The band roster includes a quartet of spiritually-leaning composer-musicians: Lili Haydn (violin and voice), Hamid Saeidi (santoor or Persian hammered dulcimer), Itai Disraeli (fretless bass), and MB Gordy (percussion).
The band’s sultry signature sound is labeled by some sources as “meditative music.” In truth, it is a musical mélange of multiple genres including Middle Eastern music, new age, trance, and world music with a spiritual and poetic influence.
Opium Moon
Why “Opium Moon?” Haydn notes that the band name “as well as the organic improvisational way” the band creates their music was actually “inspired by a poem of the great Sufi poet Hafiz called ‘She Responded’:
The bird's favorite songs
You do not hear,
For their most flamboyant music takes place
When their wings are stretched
Above the trees
And they are smoking the opium of pure freedom...
I once asked a bird,
"How is it that you fly in this gravity
Of darkness?"
She responded,
"Love lifts Me"
This initial audio offering is obviously influenced by their individual ancestral roots, Persian music, poetry, and possibly Sufi sam-â. More importantly, it is the result of the musical melting pot of each artist’s individual efforts and impact.
Track by track
The instrumental album opens on “Gravity=Love.” It is a quietly lush piece that effectively intros the act and their own worldly space.
The elegant and almost ethereal “Drunk With The Great Starry Void” borrows its title from Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. It compares drunkenness to experiencing spiritual rapture. It’s a musical metaphor of sorts.
The nigh hypnotic “How Can I Pray When the Beloved is All I See?” flows easily following the previous piece. It somehow inspires thoughts of unity and perhaps a state of prayer. Perhaps, although an instrumental, the listener discovers the answer within him/herself.
“When I See You Naked I Smell The Earth” offers an interesting interplay of instruments as the signature sound remains constant and solid yet fluid enough to hold one’s interest. Much like the other cuts here, It is both simple and intimate and yet somehow still deep and complex.
“Caravan”
The closing cut seems somehow slightly darker. The music is both thought-provoking and still somewhat mysterious. It evokes images of unknown travelers traipsing across some unknown land atop a caravan of camels in search of some as yet undetermined truth.
The track was inspired in part by the numerous immigrants seen recently in the media. It is also the reason why Opium Moon was founded. "Three out of four of us are immigrants" says Haydn on social media, "coming from Iran, Israel, and Canada.”
She notes: “This song is both a very intimate sensual piece and also a dream of a more inclusive, kinder world, pregnant with the joy and sorrow of all of us in our 'caravan' toward freedom. Our music is created by listening to each other deeply and loving across traditional boundaries of state, religion, and harmony.”
Overall, the album is both honest and heartfelt. There are no electronics here. These are poetic pieces free of industry influence.
The group uses only their own organic instruments in both expected and creative ways that blend into a graceful peaceful piece that is at times both traditional yet mysterious. It is largely a soundtrack of musically meditative moments. So check out Opium Moon’s debut disc Opium Moon and you just might find yourself joining their burgeoning “Caravan” of fans.
(Media courtesy of Opium Moon and YouTube)