LOTUS DREAM: Steve Sheppard Review

by Steve Sheppard

The soft tapestry of an acoustic guitar is a wonderful thing; its emotive tone creates rich palettes of character and ambience for all, Shambhu is a prolific composer and performer, and on this brand new release he may yet have produced his most expressive and poignant album thus far, this gem is called Lotus Dream.

There is no surprise that the artist starts off on familiar territory with the opening piece entitled Shall We, a flowing acoustic resonance is given here freely by the artist, a little reflection and a soothing narrative all give way to a perfect opening piece.

Awakened Dreams is our next port of call, once more the use of minor musical constructs makes this a finger style opus of delight, smooth crisp notes are a blissful addition to this memory box of a composition, there is something about this one that moves us along on a stream of gentle melody, at times its flow reminds of Richard Digances' folk classic Dear River Thames.

If my memory serves me well this next track means unique among other words in Sanskrit, it is called Ananya, this is actually an incredibly powerful composition, with its structures bathed in magical guitars, a matchless beauty of a track with piano contained within can be found, one that reaches the depth of our very existence, when listened to with an open mind and heart.

A single now approaches our view, one released earlier in the year by Shambhu which harnesses the talents and skill set of one Leo Steinreide and called Resilience, this I believe will be a timeless classic, whilst taking us to the half way point of the album is an instrumental joy of both ambient piano and guitars and called Majestic Mountain, we have two ranges here in my small country, and there is nothing I like to do more than investigating their natural beauty, this track would make a perfect composition for those nature bound perambulations.

The sublime eastern ethic of Lotus Dream thrilled me in the same way that retired Al Conti’s Blue Rose did back in the day. This is a meditative slice of calm and serenity, the mixture of piano and guitar here grant the listener a blissful repose on the mirrored pool of superior instrumental music, on a track that would make an excellent single.

Deeper in the weave we find a wonderful treasure, once again with reflection and harmonic minor structures, this was actually my favourite offering from the release and called Blue Mantra, the dualistic guitars manifest both rhythm and tonal superiority, the mild intense backdrop offers a deep meditative experience for the listener in a truly memorable presentation from Shambhu.

Our penultimate gift is called Prana Tides, guitars of an ambient nature gift us the most tranquil and serene offering from the album, the usage of synths and electric guitars here created a mood so powerful that it truly moved me at the very deepest level, this life force manifestation would build on an dimensional awareness, with a hovering backdrop that was utterly blissful, this track is like floating on a small personal cloud of unconditional love.

We can now conclude this most thoughtful release with the last track entitled Visions, a crafted piece by the artist, a gentle caress of a composition that doesn’t disturb the listener, but enhances their overall experience, on an album that is one of the finest of its type.

Lotus Dream by Shambhu is the artists 10^th release overall, we go back to 2010 with him here, and each passing year he just gets better and better, this release is filled with memorable moments, and without doubt his most emotive release so far, one packed with reflective moments and cathartic opportunities, which is why I am predicting a huge chart placement for Shambhu with Lotus Dream.