Sarathy Korwar’s ‘Utopia Is A Colonial Project’ Is An Anthemic Fever Dream

Subverting Eurocentric ideals with an 'Indo-Futurist' manifesto...

Sarathy Korwar returns with new single ‘Utopia Is A Colonial Project, a prelude to new album ‘KALAK’. A polyrhythmic anthem that incites movement and cerebral thinking, ‘Utopia’ comes accompanied with a choreographed video by Elliott Gonzo, starring award-winning dancer Botis Seva.

A follow-up to critically-acclaimed album ‘More Arriving’, ‘KALAK’ is framed around Korwar’s ‘Indo-futurist’ manifesto, which draws from a trove of South music, art and literature. Korwar seeks to foreground the natural world with ambitions for an alternative future rooted in self-sustaining community, and not the “utopia” conceived by the minds of settler colonialists.

“The discourse around futurism is often deeply rooted in Eurocentric ideas of the world”, Korwar explains. “In music, there’s an inherent hierarchy when you talk about left to right and top to bottom. I started thinking about a rhythmic notation system that was circular. These patterns started forming over time, and the more I thought about that, and the kind of symbolism that they began to have, I realised that this would be the core of the record.”

‘KALAK’ will be released on November 11th in three vinyl editions and a CD, each featuring a different cover image. The Dinked Edition, available exclusively from select independent UK record shops, will also include a rotating card wheel which illustrates the ‘KALAK’ rhythm.

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.