Travelling is about self discovery, but in the case of UNSEEN GUEST, self-discovery became band discovery.
Declan Murray and Amith Narayan met while travelling through Southern India, became friends and the rest became history. Well, not quite, as e-mail brought them back together and three months later they recorded and produced the album "Out There".
Assembling a cast of local musicians,The Unseen Guest started recording in Amith's home town of Calicut in Kerala. The result is a refreshing singer/songerwriter album elevated above the rest by tradional Malayan and Indian instruments masterly blended with western pop. Crucially without the torrid Bollywood clichés.
These sounds provide a well crafted backdrop boasting a range that includes everything from Mandolins, Harmonium and Venna to a Carnatic Violin. Not things you run across down the Camden Barfly every night, in other words.
Declan Murray delivers an engagingly rich vocal grounding, (similar to that of Ed Hardcourt) and a harmony which is very well complimented by Amith. Indeed, the album feels like a guided tour, a snapshot of an experience and growth. The highly listenable "In The Black", relates a tale of getting paid to drink, featuring the chorus:"I don't care if you need me, just keep me in the black for another day."
For me, "Out There", "Listen My Son"and "Circle In the Dirt" are the real standout tracks, featuring truisms like "listen listen my son my son, i won't tell you twice what i can tell you once" and "put one foot in the front of the other, find myself a highway on my own".
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This quest for discovery produces rich musical achievements evoking sunshine-bleached landscapes, the deepest south of America or the dusky roads of India. It really is a collection of deft, powerful pop tunes perfect for long roads trips when the destination is not always in sight and the rush to go home is immaterial.
Lovely interjections of calm filter through "Anywhere Somewhere", while "Mangala Express" is an exellent instrumental, where drifting banjo and mandolin trade off to great effect.
"Out There"is never very far away from singer/songwriter territory, but rich guitar acoustics and textures ensure it sounds contemporary , while the use of unconventual instruments adds a fresh vibe and the lyrics are well-constructed and experty crafted.
The Unseen Guest are heading for a promising future, taking us on a diverse 45 minute journey during which we're happy to throw away familiar musical maps.
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