Like a River to the Sea

Jahnavi Harrison grew up at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hertfordshire, the UK's largest Hare Krishna temple, and her blend of acoustic guitar, violin, tabla and harmonium with religious chants displays plenty of influences from the movement she was raised in. This devotional music is perfectly pleasant, but somewhat unsurprising. Tracks are soothing and uncluttered, with Harrison's violin weaving in between Celtic and Karnatic strains as a congregation joins in for the famous refrains of ‘Hare Rama’ and ‘Hare Krishna’. It is to Harrison's credit that the album retains the feel of communal worship that is the backbone of kirtan (call-and-response devotional chanting) – this music will be more readily appreciated as a means of contemplating the divine than as a particularly innovative arrangement.

The folky title-track and the haunting ‘Céilí in Braj! (Hari Haraye)’ are the most interesting pieces on the album, while the rest rely heavily on the bansuri (flute) and the immersive quality of kirtan to carry them – with the exception of the choral ‘Mayapur Dawn (Gaurahari)’, that is. The depth of feeling, sincerity and love that come through cannot be doubted, however, and it is in this that the album succeeds.