New Age Vocal Review: Ananta Govinda-Mirror of Desire

Release Date: August 28, 2020

Label: Independent

Website

 

I have heard some very unique spiritual new age music this year. This surely aligns with what a unique year 2020 has been. Using that terminology pretty much sugar coats what kind of experience we have had up until now. It has been a terrible time with a pandemic, civil unrest, wars, fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes, and floods devastating cities everywhere. We are seemingly on the brink of extinction at times. Mother nature is very upset with our mistreatment of her sacred offerings and all living things are paying a price.

With all of this in mind, some artists are responding to all of the pain and suffering with some very good music. One of those artists is Ananta Govinda with his recent release Mirror of Desire. The cover of the album reminds me of the colorful graphic novels that my son got in the early 2000s.

From The Artist Website: Mirror of Desire is 3 part musical journey that is part of a multimedia juggernaut that will see an accompanying book, set for release on Amazon on October 30th, and an immersive show in a 360-degree projection dome, where he is forging new creative styles for combining music and visual storytelling into a groundbreaking presentation (once live events return).

Now, that is exciting and promises to be transformative for anyone that attends. I say that because this kind of spiritual outreach is normally contained in the music and artwork or words to the tracks, this is going to be a memorable experience once it arrives.

From an entirely musical perspective, I enjoyed this recording. I am gradually hearing more new age-related releases with vocals. I do have to say I was not sure at first, and if I could adjust or accept this after many years of strictly instrumental albums. It has been a pleasant experience that I fully embrace and artists such as Ananta Govinda have assisted in bringing me down that road to this destination. That place is acceptance which in turn brings about change and the subsequent growth from that positivity of moving forward.

“Mazes of The Mind” was my favorite track. I felt it symbolized the very essence of this presentation and the vocals and musicality of it all were amazing. It made me smile inside and delivered the necessary message to me swiftly and convincingly. The mind is a complex maze of thoughts and emotions and if you stop and think about how many things that go through it minute by minute, second by second, day by day, it is a wonder. Science tells us we only develop a very small part of our brain while we are alive and as we get older the sharpness of our minds begins to deteriorate. I think the key is to always be learning, thinking, and using our abilities, and then it will continue to grow and expand. Music does help the activity in the cranium and it affects our brains immediately upon listening. For me, it opens the door to possibilities that under normal circumstances would not come to mind.

What I recognized about this album was the different types of music that come to a boil in an all-inclusive melting pot. The styles come at you with a trajectory straight to the heart and mind and with a definitive impact. It touches all of your senses at once. This will make an impression upon anyone that hears it. There is a mixture of pleasing vocal styles, world, jazz, new age, and a meditative essence that takes hold right at the beginning of your listening experience and it gets stronger and clearer with each passing track. Time is of the essence as well with every track ranging from 4 to over 6 minutes except for “Room of Darshan,” clocking in at 2:10 minutes.

There are many contributors to this project and it is one of healing that we all need to hear. Deep down I know the earth and its inhabitants will have a spiritual awakening so we all can heal and take the earth along with us. This is my Mirror of Desire that I pray will become our reality. This kind of music is a reminder from whence we came. It touches our inner being and brings about positive thinking and a desire to translate that through the music to all the people you come into contact with. After all, we all want the same thing, and, in the end, music is another tool to get us all there.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
September 4, 2020

Track List:
1. Mirror of Desire (5:44)
2. Self Writing Book (feat. Indubious) (4:18)
3. Golden Goddess (feat. Will Calhoun) (5:48)
4. Mazes of the Mind (feat. Lili Haydn)(4:24)
5. Onto the Timelessness (5:02)
6. River of Time (feat. Pierre Edel) (4:16)
7. Room of Darshan (2:10)
8. Mantras of Paradesha (6:38)