Suarasama’s Timeline follows multiple paths across avenues of world cultures and music. Sounding as new today as it did when first released in 2013, Suarasama’s traditional North Sumatran roots are a launching point into the currents of hypnotic music shared around the world, with the first-time-on-vinyl 10th anniversary reissue of Timeline.
“Sea Fish” is a shimmering evocation of nature’s beauty, her far-reaching oceans and their inhabitants. Suarasama’s spirit and intention is further elevated by Rithaony Hutajulu’s vocals, as well as the skilled rhythm playing of Muhammad Amin and Horas Panjaitan, with additional percussion and singing from several others. The two-voice Dorian parallel melody singing opens space among polymetric djembe percussion patterns. A vocal improvisation lends Brazilian folk nuances to the swaying breeze of the music, its ebb-and-flow like the free rhythms of our living oceans.
The live performance video of “Sea Fish” projects Suarasama’s complete commitment. The quartet of players generate more music than it seems they should be able to with two vocals and one guitar, drum and harmonium – a gently stoic performance intersecting along pathways of pure music and spirituality in a ritual that summons sweet feelings of release.
