Subcontinental Drift

Canadian folk-fusion outfit Sultans of String have gone for the word-play double – both band name and album name – on their collaboration with sitar master Anwar Khurshid. This collaboration uncovers common ground between North American folk and Hindustani classical that you never knew was there.

On ‘Enter the Gate’, Khurshid's sitar and Chris McKhool's violin glide between notes like Afghan kites in contest, anchored by some down-home drumming from Rosendo León. Khurshid's background in film music lends a touch of the Bollywood epic, but this record is Canadian at its core. ‘Journey to Freedom’ traces Khurshid's emigration from Pakistan to Canada, by way of a jaunty reel that dissolves into a stirring fretless bass feature, but it is a cover of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ that acts as the album's anthem. A bouncy reworking of Dylan's caustic lament, its positive vibes are irresistible.

Funded by arts councils both national and provincial, this album communicates the character of a country that embraces immigration and all the opportunities it brings.