Enjoy the warm-sounding and warm-hearted new single from Ajay Srivastav. The song’s positive message is reinforced by a well-shot video that features Srivastav burdened by a heavy load: boxes labelled with the baggage we often carry, such as expectations, ego and past trauma. It’s a smart, good-humoured visual, well-suited to the music. Srivastav describes the song’s theme: “The lyrics are inspired by the Vedic concept of ‘Moksha’-the idea of letting go of my worldly baggage in return for liberation. It’s not just material things, it could be my insecurities, past trauma and fears.I love bridging stories and imagery from the Blues just as much as I do the music, and the idea of walking the road is very much steeped in the Blues tradition.”
Delivered with an insistent rhythm and hypnotic finger-picking on Srivastav’s Resonator, ‘Further Up the Road’ blends roots music with the sound of the sitar and sarod, combining that familiar slide and twang with the scales and techniques associated with Indian music. It makes for a unique sound as he explains: “The fusion happened inside me…what you hear is the sound of my varied experiences. Breaking down musical boundaries comes easy when you’ve spent your life living at the crossroads of different cultures.” His songs take inspiration from both his life in Britain and a visit to the home of his ancestors in Varanasi in Northern India.
The single is from Srivastav’s upcoming album ‘Sittin’ Down Too Long’. This will be his third full-length studio album, following on from 2019’s ‘Karmic Blues’, which topped the amazon blues chart and ‘Powerless’ in 2021, again getting to number 1 on both the Amazon and iTunes Blues Charts. He continues to write about the stuff of life: insecurity, mental health, inequality and identity. Srivastav is certainly developing a distinctive musical identity that is worthy of your attention.
