Bhopal’s Flowers

“Diamond Queen” b/w “The Majestic Purple Sky”

“Diamond Queen” represents the gift of plurality received from the deity of dawn, Usha, to mankind. It is both a love letter and morning prayer to Lakshmi that blends stringed instruments from different eras. Employing a gently swept tamboura and sitar played according to the traditional Hindustani raga aesthetics in an alap style (non-rhythmic and very ornamented) on verses, with a catchy riff on choruses, the music is inspired by traditional Hindustani short compositions, known as gat. 

 Given Usha’s dawns are rich and radiant, shiny guitar tones are mixed with the traditional instrumentation, adding ornamented arpeggios of 12-string Rickenbacker (on the right) and an edgy Telecaster solo (on the left), both plugged on an AC-30 Vox.  The song is paced by a dancing bass line delivered by a Hofner violin bass and a roomy surf-rock drum beat, complemented by a ‘60s tambourine (on the left) and a tabla groove (on the right). 

“The Majestic Purple Sky” is a tribute to Surayana and dusk, and is inspired by the idea, from an Olivier Messiaen interview, that birds sing much better at dusk, creating a choir that reflects the beautiful red-orange-purple colors of the sky during that short but intense period of time.

Driven by a Hofner Galaxy bass, the song features a fingerpicked Rickenbacker 12-string (inspired by Roger McGuinn’s right-handed style) plugged in a Jangle-Box compressor (on the left), doubled by a lead sitar on the right. Both instruments project the main melodic theme, based on the Mixolydian scale (an ancient Greek mode). The Telecaster plays the solo section on a mid-range locked wah position (on the right), facing banjo-rolled-style fingerpicked arpeggios played by the Rickenbacker on the opposite side. After the grand finale, strings and vocal choir sing a unison melody representing the slow motion color change that closes the twilight.

Singles are pressed on 7-inch, 45 rpm vinyl records.