Eleven years ago, an album called ‘Junun’ (it also got a PTA documentary) was released and captivated everyone who chanced upon it. It was a cultural meeting of minds like few other releases of that time; the minds were Shye Ben Tzur (a composer born in the US, raised in Israel but fully based in Ajmer and working in multiple musical contexts), The Rajasthan Express (an assemblage of Qawwali and folk singers practising their art according to the state’s very, very rich musical heritage), and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, who was himself composing soundtracks at the time (and has since).

Just reading this sentence makes one feel like this melding of genre, approach and culture has no chance of being a genuine, cohesive artistic expression that, well, sounds great… but it did. They recorded the whole thing at the Jodhpur fort, and the mixture of Western compositional nods with the often freewheeling but very technical aspects of Indian folk was a joy to listen to. Needless to say, the album received acclaim from critics and listeners alike.

Here was an album, finally, that celebrated the concept of fusion and world music, had a final product that was at least the sum of all its parts (and often more,) an, instead of being overly cerebral, had some really fun songs to listen to. Well, now, the ‘ensemble’, for lack of a better word, has released ‘Ranjha’ - a brand new album that stays true to the general concept of somehow bringing disparate worlds together, but in a different way; this, of course, is logical, given that the world we now live in is in many ways unrecognisable from the world in 2015. The good news is that this is still an album of very entertaining, technically proficient and, most importantly, organic and sincere music. That is what we require right now.

We spoke to some of the artists involved to get their take on the album, process, and musical approaches.

It has been 11 years since Junun. A lot has changed in the world since then (and I presume all of you) and that always reflects in the art of the time, but sometimes, art is the one thing that remains constant through change and time. Was there some concept of these two aspects that came up in the writing of this new album?

Shye Ben Tzur: I think that that the main thing is – when we write and when I work on the music in the initial stage, and after that with the band and with Jonny... I mean, the songs tend to kind of try to be a path into an inner perspective and inner space that is trying to touch zones that are a bit beyond time and current affairs. And so, in this sense, there is not really much of of an influence in this way. Obviously the influence is taking place and the way that we respond- or maybe if some inspiration is coming and it enters into a melody or into a verse... but there is nothing as direct as writing music or texts with the dialogue of what's happening in current affairs. When I think, when I am inspired, I am also looking at texts and old traditions and the beautiful things about Indian traditions. Musically, there is such a treasury of things that always feel to me as if they're beyond time.

When I read the poetry of Hazrat Nawab Hadim Hazan Gudri Shah Baba, whose poetry has been composed and performed in this album – it could have been written today, it could have been written 100 years ago or 500 years ago. I mean, it touches a chord that is very sacred in the heart that has nothing to do with the surrounding of worldly affairs in a way. And same with the music; Qawwalis and Indian classical music, classical traditions, the source is not dealing with giving a soundtrack to current affairs. They are always a soundtrack to an inner space and some sort of a sublime being.

Besides that, the affairs of the world have really affected us in person, the way that we maybe carry ourselves. And with this album, especially with COVID, it was very complicated logistically, to meet, to record, to travel. So these things, we always have to overcome somehow.

How delicate is the moment of ‘bringing a song to your collaborators’ or ‘showing a new idea, melody, riff or musical part’ to everyone in the room when influences are so diverse and from so many different parts of the world?

Jonny Greenwood: The balance to get right is – staying true and respectful to the raag and the language of Indian music. But not so respectful that you are scared to experiment. There’s lots of examples of Western and Eastern music combining where the subtlety of both is lost: leaden rock beats over Indian music that’s filleted of its essence. We tried to combine the best of both without looking away from that complexity. I was aware that every chord change risked causing the raag to collapse, and tried to write things within the ‘rules’ - but there are a few times when the rules had to be briefly broken!

Urdu (and most Indian languages) have concepts and words that have no translatable parallel in English or other Western languages. How does having a language that has a ‘khoobi’ all its own affect writing the actual music and melodies of songs?

Aamir Damami: Urdu and English – when we are singing in Urdu, we present it the way we would ‘normally’ do it. But of course, let me say, Urdu and English are very different, and they have their own meanings, and they follow their own paths in a sense. There aren’t many albums that have both languages as such. The two languages follow they own journeys, but the music.. the music is what ties them together.

Nathulal Solanki: Look, when we’re playing – for example, there are some words in Hebrew. There are words in English. They have different meters, different rhythms. So we all sit together and figure out how we can fit our words into a song. We trying to understand the spirit in it; whether it’s Urdu, English, Marathi, Hindi, Rajasthani, the heart is the same, the bhaav is the same. The understanding of music comes from there.

What constitutes a ‘song-sketch’? What is the equivalent of a ‘jam session’ in this project, if you all could paint a picture of that?

Shye Ben Tzur: I mean, a lot of the songs, you know, in a sketchy way, they are made that the architecture is very much close to a way that North Indian traditional music would work. It has an sthayi and an antra, which is basically kind of an A part and a B part where the A part leads to the B part. The sthayi leads to the antra that resolves again in the sthayi, that the A part leads to a B part that resolves in the A part. So there is a very circular movement to it.

When we play it, we expand the framework. And suddenly there is some more improvisations and solos and things that come inside the music. In the Qawwali parts we have sometimes, there is the poetry, the main poetry with its melody. And then some poetic verses are being added to the main poem, which we call, like, the chaspas – the additions that are being taken from another poet. And after that, when we put it together, the circle that’s created sometimes becomes a linear journey when Jonny suddenly brings chord progressions, for instance. And then we decide to take the song and break the circle and kind of bring it into a different path. And that basically takes us as musicians and as listeners on a different type of a journey and hopefully evokes some sort of an ecstasy.

Nathulal Solanki: The way you make subji, first you turn on the heat, then you add oil – you don’t just throw everything in, right? You put some garlic or onions to check if the oil is hot, it changes colour. Then you add your masalas, cook it and check if it’s peroperly cooked. Then you add the vegetables and so on. Songwriting is the same thing. Someone has an idea, then someone else comes up with something, then you decide what the feeling of the song should be, right? You put your heart into it, then you bring everyone in – what’s the melody going to be? The rhythm? The masala – the instruments? Like this, we go slowly, add all the ingredients... we sit together, and we play it once, and there’s not much. Then we play it, keep playing, and then the song’s heart and energy comes out, and we’re all together in it.

‘RANJHA’ is studio-recorded in England. What were the main logistical challenges of micing 20+ musicians, trying to tastefully incorporate bleed, and getting a workable product to the mix-master stage?

Shye Ben Tzur: Well, that is a question that Sam and Jonny would be able to answer in more detail. But I would say that even in Junun, we worked in Mehrangar Fort with Nigel Godrich and Sam Petts-Davies who also worked with us on this one. So we were recording... we were insisting on having the live performance captured.

Jonny Greenwood: We recorded in the same way that a western band would - mics, headphones, baffles. Our approach was to treat the studio as an extra instrument, rather than just a neutral camera taking a ‘faithful’ picture, we were keen to have the creative opportunities that being in a studio can bring. In addition, there was access to other instruments - so, for example, Zakir could use a Moog keyboard for the first time, as well as his harmonium.

One thing about most Indian folk music is that it's performed live, usually in one take, wrinkles and all. Given this, did the entire recording process have to be changed around and certain decisions taken given that things like overdubs and punch-ins and multiple takes, even, are not inherently part of the Indian folk ‘way’?

Jonny Greenwood: Yes – there’s perhaps too much caution and reverence to some occasions where live Indian folk music is recorded: I grew up listening to records that had sounds that weren’t beholden to simply reproducing a live sound: dub reggae, the Velvet Underground etc. So we didn’t want anything to sound too much like a careful field recording. They can sometimes feel too sterile. We were recording like a band, and it opened up lots of opportunities to think differently about recording Indian music.

We are, of course, looking forward to the release – will there be a live component to it after that?

Jonny Greenwood: We hope so – but it will depend on what sort of reaction the record has. Touring is hugely expensive, especially when it involves flying lots of musicians from India - but if we can find a way to do it and break even, then I think we would.

Shye Ben Tzur: Really hoping that there would be. We are working on it as well. I mean, since it is a big group coming from different places in Rajasthan and in the world, the logistics are a bit complicated. And the way it worked last time, it's just the album that came out. And then there was a lot of buzz around it. And people wanted to see us, and somehow it happened, and we were invited to tour and play a lot of concerts in Europe and then in the US and in South America and different places.

And it was an amazing experience. The main thing that we love to play, to sit and play together. So a live concert is a great excuse to meet and experience music together in its most beautiful way.