Exile Vibration

Kyab Yul-Sa is a collaboration between Lobsang Chonzor and French musicians Margaux Liénard (fiddle, bouzouki) and Julien Lahaye (percussion). The ‘exile’ in the title refers to Chonzor, born to Tibetan parents living in India. Liénard and Lahaye have also spent time abroad: playing the fiddle in Ireland and Scandinavia and studying percussion in the Middle East, respectively. Unsurprisingly, the outcome of their collaboration is international in language, style and instrumentation. Chonzor's rich, mournful voice successfully summons a sense of a lost home, accompanied by his equally evocative dranyen (lute, best heard on ‘Aku Pema’); Tibetan dungchen (horns) and monastery bells and cymbals also make cameo appearances. Lahaye's percussion is forceful and urgent on ‘Dhamdul Nyenkyong’ and ‘Lungta’, while Liénard's string accompaniments evince undeniable talent – ‘Da Day Dawn’, for instance, is a beautifully played Shetland air.

However, it is not clear how the latter two musicians, or the traditions they draw upon, tie in to the theme of exile. At their best, they are an interesting counterpoint to Chonzor. At other times their contributions can seem disjointed and disconnected from the remainder of the record. They describe themselves as ‘having escaped from the Tower of Babel’; judging from Exile Vibration, it may be that their escape has not quite finished yet.