The virtual champagne was flowing as Sarathy Korwar (virtually) walked away with the (actual) gong for Best Independent Album of the Year at the AIM Awards last night, for his album More Arriving. We’re delighted to see this record’s acclaim grow, and for it to continue to find a wider audience. Indo-jazz, Indian classical music, hip-hop, dub and spoken word are connected seamlessly while putting the voices of the South Asian diaspora front and centre. The themes of identity and the global movement of people connects on a deeply emotional level, and this is testament to Sarathy’s ambition, vision and hard work.

His collaborators also need a mention here: London-based poet Zia Ahmed, Mumbai rappers MC Mawali and TRAP POJU, Punjabi MC Prabh Deep, Jamaican-Indian rapper Delhi Sultanate, author Deepak Unnikrishnan and Indian classical singers Mirande and Aditya Prakash come together to paint a nuanced, knotted and diverse picture of South Asian identity. Sarathy’s band of Tamar Osbornon baritone sax and Al MacSween on keys plus spots by Chris Williams on alto-sax and Danalogueon synthesiser light the blue touch paper. Nick Woodmansey (aka Emanative) on co-production and mixing duties alongside Daniel Trachtenberg helped bring it all into sharp focus.

Sarathy is already working on the follow-up to More Arriving. In the meantime, there is a mango coloured vinyl edition in the works. It’s available to pre-order now and will be in shops on September 11th.

Before that comes the Otherland 12”, which features two new tracks expanding on the themes explored on More Arriving, and two remixes. Otherland will be released on Record Store Day’s August 29th drop.

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