"I am Indian. To be more accurate, I was raised in England, but my parents came from India - land, people, government or self - 'Indian' - what does that mean? At this time the government of India is testing nuclear weapons - Am I less Indian if I don't defend their actions? Less Indian for being born and raised in Britain? - For not speaking Hindi? Am I not English because of my cultural heritage? - Or the colour of my skin? Who decides? - 'History' tells me my heritage came from the 'Sub' continent - a 'third world' country, a 'developing' nation, a 'colonized' land - So what is history? - For me, just another arrogant Eurocentric term ... I learned only about Russian, European and American history in my school syllabus - India, Pakistan, Africa - these places were full of people whose history did not matter - the enslaved, the inferior.

This is an album with a time span that runs backwards - it begins with the Indian Prime Minister - Vajpayee - proudly announcing the testing of 3 nuclear bombs on Indian soil. Vajpayee is the leader of the BJP - The 'Hindu fundamentalist' Party. These tests first took place in 1998. In 1945, two years before the Independence of India, Oppenheimer, creator of the atomic bomb, witnessed the first test of his creation. Afterwards he quoted from the 'Bhagavad Glta' - the Hindu 'Bible' - in condemnation of his own creation. His quote ends this album. He quotes Vishnu saying 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds' as he breaks down in tears'. The western creator of the bomb condemning it in the name of Hinduism, the Hindu prime minister testing it in the name of what? Progress? Should India be thanking the West for donating weapons of mass destruction? If I ever have children will they discover their heritage through BBC news bulletins about radiation sickness? - or nuclear war with Pakistan?

My mother and father are featured on this album - They speak with optimism of the future, while British Nazis like Combat 18 or the BNP rush to claim responsibility for nail bombing Asians in Brick Lane. The BJP in India. The BNP in England. The first would define me by my religious heritage letter by the colour of my skin. I believe in Hindu philosophy. I am not religious. I am a pacifist. I am a British Asian. My identity and my history are defined only by myself - beyond politics, beyond nationality beyond religion and Beyond Skin."
(Nitin Sawhney 1999 Beyond Skin)

Track By Track

Broken Skin:
The Prime Minister of India proudly announces the success of his Government's first nuclear test, a new beginning for Hinduism. The scene is set for... a laid back, funky soul groove, vocalist Sanchita Farruque coming on like Aretha crossed with Carleen Anderson. She's singing about radiation sickness, yet somehow it sounds like a song of lost love. Perhaps it is.

Letting Go:
A groove that makes reference to Portishead, a vocalist, Tina Grace, of round English tone. (You may know her work with Badmarsh & Shri). The theme is departure, the emotional letting-go of a country. It's 1945. Change is afoot and will prove both irresistible and irreversible.

Homelands:
Rampant percussion overlaid by the 4hero string section, cooled out by flamenco guitar. That's Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's nephews chanting the main vocal. Nina Miranda of Smoke City fame delivers the refrain in Portuguese, "Fragile is the land/And so are the minds of men".

Pilgrim:
A rap written and performed by Dream Warrior - Spek, his understated, almost feminine style delivering a tale of Canadian-Asian coming of age, an unusual take on a universal story. The mysterious instrument you can hear is the Swarlin, a cross between a violin and an Indian sarangi. It's the only one in existence and was recorded by Nitin in Bombay.

Tides:
The middle section of the album - this track and the next two, Nadia and The Immigrant - explores the theme of oceans, a symbol for Nitin of time and space. Tides features Nitin on piano, American drum & bass exponent Marque Gilmore on cymbals and Andy Hamil of 4hero fame on strings. An elegant, rolling, live jam, set against an intro that talks of French nuclear testing on Muroroa atoll.

Nadia:
Nadia means 'The River'. The incredible vocalist Swati Natekar, now a regular member of Nitin's band, sings in the thumri style to create the feeling of rapids, over fast moving, jungly rhythms. The water is her enemy, preventing her from joining a loved one across on the other side. A tale that resonates as strongly in Kosovo as it did with the Asian immigrants of the 60's.

The Immigrant:
The track opens with the voice of Nitin's father, explaining how he was inspired to move to England by tales of gold paved streets and photos of Kew Gardens. Jayanta Bose, a Bengali classical singer and contributor to previous Sawhney albums, sings of The Ferryman, a figure representing both fate and destiny in Bengali folklore. Sanchita Farruque then takes up the reins of what becomes a lovely soul ballad, the pair melding their distinct styles beautifully at the climax.

Serpents:
Hindu mythology tells how a huge serpent has coiled itself around the world - a portent of dark events, reflected in the dramatic string opening. Dancer Sushmita Ghosh speaks the rhythms of Kathak footwork, in cycles of nine beats. Rushing percussion heightens the feeling of pre-millennial tension. Events are coming to a head.

Anthem Without Nation:
The old India, sick with radiation poisoning, has changed beyond recognition. There's no going back for the elder generation, nothing to return for the new. In England, meanwhile, Asians are concerned they'll never be accepted as entirely English. The doom-laden percussion is by Steve Shehan, part-Cherokee, part-Irish, now resident in Paris. Nitin reckons him one to be of the greatest percussionists he has heard. The resonant lead voice is Devinder Singh, who performed on In The Mind on Displacing The Priest.

Nostalgia:
Nitin's parents appear once again, revealing their optimism for their children's future after some hard adjustment. Tina Grace's first word - 'Dreams...' - offers Nitin's own perspective on such trusting innocence. How, he asks, can the new generation of Asians in England ever truly understand what their parents and grandparents experienced in the old India which no longer exists?

The Conference:
A spectacular, improvised vocal-tabla duet between Devinder and Jayanta, symbolising conflict and competition - perhaps between India and Pakistan, perhaps the West and East - reflecting how politics at the highest level leaves the people it's supposed to represent completely excluded and therefore alienated.

Beyond Skin:
Drawing the themes of the album together, the final song - Nitin's favourite - relays the words of A-bomb co-creator Oppenheimer expressing regret for his handiwork. Ironically enough, he is quoting from the Hindu bible, the Bhagavad Gita, where Vishnu says, 'Now I am become Death - The Destroyer Of Worlds'. Nitin plays guitar to Swati Natekar's lead, the voice of the Indian people asking, 'What are we doing/What do we have left?/Where is our heritage?'. In a time of growing political and global unrest, these are questions that resonate deep beneath racial and national divides.

What the Papers Say...

The implications of Sawhney's genteel ram-raid on the shop-window of Victorian cultural imperialism are every bit as revolutionary as anything Johnny Rotten could come up with (The Independent)
 
Nitin Sawhney 's music provides a template for Britain 's culturally diverse future (The Guardian)

Sawnhey... flouts every musical boundary going (The Times / Arts pages)
 
The sound of Y2K (The Observer)

Nitin Sawhney was subverting stereotypes long before he became the toast of the music world. But rather than sending up our preconceptions of Asian music, this virtuoso guitarist/keyboardist now prefers to make connections between sounds and cultures that, on the surface, may seem utterly incongruous. In fact, last year's Beyond Skin album established Sawhney as one of the most instinctively eclectic musicians around, with its exotic blend of soul, drum'n'bass, Spanish and traditional Indian music (The Independent)

Beyond Skin... simply the album of the year (Elle Magazine)
 
One of the most talented artists in Britain (G2 / The Guardian)

Some of the most sublime tracks of the decade (Muzik Magazine)

Although I have not spent a lot of time in India, I am fascinated by your country. Not only the traditional attractions that have drawn Europeans for many years, but also the potential of a new high tech India, which I believe is going to become increasingly important. Many governments are falling over themselves to build good relations with China. I believe that India may well have an equal, if not more significant, role to play. Although it is a minority that speak English, it will be a huge advantage in such an internet dependent world. There has been a ton of exciting Asian music coming out of Britain. I find it one of the most exciting things going on in England today. I think Asian Dub Foundation, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Joi are all having an influence on British music. (Peter Gabriel, Connect Magazine November 2000)
 
If you 're going to buy one album all year... make sure its got the name Nitin Sawhney written all over it (7 Magazine)
 
Who else is making music so inventive and so listenable? (Daily Telegraph)

Sawhney draws deftly on the rhythms and melodies of his Indian homeland, interlacing them with drum'n'bass, jazz, rap and trip hop. Letting Go is an undoubted highlight, its sad strings and lethargic beats matching the best of the Bristol wave's heartbreak anthems (Q Magazine)
 
A master at work (Top Magazine)

You can't fault Nitin's instinctive composition and wide-open mind (The Big Issue)

Blindingly brilliant (Echoes)

It would be easier to jot down what this man can't do, than what he can (The Guardian / The 2000 Proms young composers supplement)

He touches global nerves undisturbed by a decade of novelty value culture-smashing (The NME)

Sawhney really is out there... delving into something new (Daily Telegraph)

Seldom have East and West sounded more like one world. Sawhney makes music that transcends differences of race, language and nation. Beyond skin, in fact (The Times)

Ultimately, of course, the only records worth listening to are those which transcend fleeting generic definitions. And 'Beyond Skin' is just such a record. Asian, in the sense of Sawhney's heritage, upbringing, cultural references and identity. But what makes 'Beyond Skin' so excellent is Sawhney's refusal to be chained to unenlightened expectations of what an 'Asian' record should sound like. This intangibility is ultimately what makes 'Beyond Skin' so satisfying. It's movingly anti-sentimental, political without being polemical. It's beyond stereotype, and careening close to sublime (The NME)

The biggest achievement of the evening is that Sawhney's broad palette of sounds remains fluid and coherent. The mind boggles as to what outlandish sounds he will find to play with next (The Independent)