Contemporary Jazz and Film Music graduate and composer Shamoon Khatri returns this year with a sublime new work – though one with a history spanning fifteen years back. The enchanting instrumental journey Delayed Maturity features a smooth balancing of organic and amplified elements, the natural world alongside simple keys, hand-held rhythms and acoustic guitars, enhanced by dashes of electric guitar and subtle yet striking production.
First recorded in 2008, Delayed Maturity was captured at a home studio in the busy metropolitan city of Kuala Lumpur. The neighbourhood of Jalan Pahang was the setting, and the serenity and delicate escapism of the music is all the more striking when considered alongside such a relentlessly busy background.
Welcoming the talents of an array of aspiring Music Students from India, Pakistan and Canada, the post-four minute composition unites a plethora of instruments, but does so in a divinely focused and almost mainstream fashion. There are clear threads of recognisable melody revisited throughout, an uplifting evolution from gentle finger picking to electronic passion and power, and an intoxicating and powerful display of unity from all involved. The piece speaks volumes on behalf of the value and magic of collaboration, but also of the storytelling and heartfelt reflections of Shamoon Khatri.
Following on from the 2023 EP Dawn, Delayed Maturity steps away from the atmospheric vastness of before, and instead appears to devote the moment entirely to instrumental expression. Less cinematic, but no less evocative and hypnotic as these layers of music gather story and momentum.
Promising delicacy and warmth evolving into energy and possibility, Delayed Maturity perhaps quite wonderfully encapsulates the implications of its title. These gentle worldly observations, the quiet whistles and panning rhythms, depict a sort of youthful view of the world, and the later sections, as the intensity rises, relay a kind of confidence, depth and determination. We progress from simple World Music and Folk stylings to the full-throttle embrace of a Soul Rock soundscape – and then we return to the calm again; the familiar descending piano, the mellow beat, the rising and falling strings like waves of contemplation.
Built out of a shared passion for music in all of its forms, Delayed Maturity is a sheer pleasure to listen to, and also impressively finds a worthy balance between creative freedom and distinct, unmistakable musicality. You can easily recognisable the tones, tunes and intentions of the piece once it’s crossed your path.
Download Delayed Maturity via Apple or Amazon. Find Shamoon Khatri on Instagram & YouTube.
