Anglo-Scandic trio Mandala have premiered their brand new video A Soul In The Night. The song is taken from their second album The Echoes Of Your Mind which Mandala will release on November 13.
"A Soul In The Night was the first song I wrote for the album, and it set the mood for things to come," explains multi-instrumentalist Rhys Marsh. "Mandala has always been about fusing folk-inspired progressive rock with world music elements.
"Our first album had a lighter mood, and we used some Indian instruments on it which added a lovely softness. this time around, though, we wanted the sound to be darker and heavier, so we headed into more of a Middle Eastern direction, and used Turkish metal drums and a saz, — which is an aggressive sounding string instrument — alongside our usual rock trio set-up.
"We weren’t afraid to let the songs take their own course. some of them are closer to the 10-minute mark, as we wanted to let the themes develop, and to leave room for some psychedelic treatments. as with our first album, we recorded the main tracks live, with no click track or headphones. we just turned the lights down low and really enjoyed the energy that came from the music.
"On one song, we sent the entire mix (in mono) into my Space Echo tape delay unit, then through my studio’s echo chamber. it came back sounding pretty spacey! the sounds were quite literally flying all around the building whilst we were recording and mixing. Nothing was 'too psychedelic' this time around."
The Echoes Of Your Mind will be available as a limited edition CD, exclusively from Burning Shed, and on all streaming services, on Friday the 13th November.
"Yes, we picked that date on purpose," laughs Marsh.
