Brink is a cinematic exegesis of sophisticated pop melodies and traditional Eastern music that achieves a striking level of emotional and spiritual intimacy. Ingenious arrangements incorporate a fluid mix of East Indian and Western instruments in a sequence of elegant aural rainbows. Dave Stringer’s voice conveys a sense of grandeur as it plays across maturely constructed arrangements with mantras and lyrics in Sanskrit, Hindi, Farsi and purely improvised emotional language.
The soul stirring “Shivo’ham, Shivo’ham” is an intense awakening that starts out in haunting solemnity and is gradually transformed into a jazz-inflected and eastern-tinged celebration. The album moves seamlessly into “Sleep” evoking mystery, imagination and spirituality with its quiet beauty. Time seems to stop in “Ganashyama”, a haunting vocal duet with Azam Ali, accented with sarangi, trumpet and piano. Brink lacks pretense and feels natural, appealing to Indian fusion music enthusiasts and West meets East spiritual pilgrims alike.
Produced by Greg Ellis and Hans Christian with an impressive supporting cast including vocal duets in Sanskrit with Donna de Lory, Hindi with Azam Ali and Farsi with Mamak Khadem.
This is a completely re-mastered version of the original seven song Brink EP that was self-released in 2000. The four songs in English that were added to the subsequent Valley Entertainment version released in 2002 are now included in a new collection, The Satellite Sky.
Read Dave’s comments in Seattle Yoga News about how he wrote the Satellite Sky and Brink: