From Punk to Baul Fire: Ananda Xenia Shakti's Transmission
At the beginning of The Perfumed Garden, there exists a moment where the passage of time becomes thin and evaporates like breath in the air. In a sense, it is an absence of quiet (as in "nothing") but also an absence of breath in the air. Also, that "real world" is once again without any weight. It drifts into the atmosphere like cinders floating in a room. Ananda Xenia Shakti does not make an announcement before she arrives; she simply shows up to ask her questions about life. Once she arrives, there will be no closing of any door behind her.
This release date (January 6, Epiphany) is a conscious decision as it marks a relationship between music and the revealing process, rather than the distribution process. The Perfumed Garden marks a significant change in Xenia's musical journey as a hero from her early days as a punk rock figurehead as one of the founding members of the band B Girls and also a backing vocalist for the band Blondie right through to her current position as an entity that channels devotion through her music and performances (as a dance facilitator) rather than simply three chords and sweat.
Xenia's journey, which began in the company of the Baul singers of Bengal, illustrates the importance of living your truth versus following doctrine, as they (the Baul singers) reject doctrines and simply seek to live their truth. In Xenia's example of "it is here" and "it is here," there is an emphasis on living truth and how there is no distance between you and living truth and no need for metaphors. Ultimately, she infuses honesty into everything she does.
With respect to sound, "The Perfumed Garden" eschews a polished Western musical style in favor of a more visceral and intimate one. The rhythm acts as a heartbeat, while the vocals sway and float around while returning. It has a rich texture that carries the scent of beer on your breath, feels like dust on your hands and arms, and smells like incense wafting through the air. This music is devotional and alive, attuned to and asking the same devotion from the body as well as the mind.
Visually, the Shakti universe has an ecstatic quality. In the "Hare Hare Dance" video, for example, you can see the dancing happening throughout India and at ecstatic dance venues, which contributed to that song reaching #1 on the UK's iTunes chart. In this work also is the invitation for the audience members to be participants within it. Therefore, the audience members are provided with a role as witnesses to the spectacle being performed before them and also as future carriers of this energy into their own lives.
The Perfumed Garden does not ask for you to believe in; it asks for you to be present. Come in; come walk toward; for it is already here in your midst.