As Sandunes, Indian producer Sanaya Ardeshir has spent the last decade exploring the melodic side of electronic music with three ebullient albums that drew on the bright instrumentation and pop references of contemporaries such as Bonobo. Now releasing her first record under her own name, Ardeshir explores entirely new territory, namely expansive piano compositions that supplant dancefloor rhythms with slowly unfurling minimalist repetition.
Drawing on her training as a pianist, Ardeshir displays a confident command of the keys, building an insistent right-hand motif on the opening track that creates a foundation for saxophonist Rhys Sebastian’s drawn-out notes. This unwavering piano phrasing allows her collaborators to layer evocative instrumental swells, producing bursts of woodwind fanfare on the plaintive Between Dreams and swirls of trilling synth strings on the choppy Barefoot Steps. Percussionist Sarathy Korwar delivers a standout feature on Deccan Queen, giving structure to Ardeshir’s frenetic arpeggios with his steadily intensifying tabla rhythms.
