“Rishi” is a track out today from San Francisco-based artist Luke Sweeney. The stylish, synth-fronted pop effort represents the title track from Sweeney’s upcoming fourth album, out on 11/11.
Playful, warming synths and a mellow bass line construct a quaintly melodic introduction, joined by Sweeney’s hypnotic vocal presence. “Got a taste of the mystic,” Sweeney sings, the prickly synth adornments adding well thereafter. Additional backing vocal reflections embrace throughout the track’s mid-point; the harmonizing plays with a haunting allure into the subsequent key-laden additions.
Approaching the three-minute turn, a more soaring, delicate turn — “I was living in a bubble,” — plays delightfully. “Rishi” is a lush, hooky success from Luke Sweeney, whose upcoming album I’m absolutely anticipating.
The forthcoming album, Rishi, is inspired by the traumatic birth and unexpected death of Sweeney’s infant daughter in 2018. The album’s “humble temple of songs” was mostly written in India, where Sweeney’s family made a return trip to deliver Rishi’s ashes to the Ganges. In the two years following, the album was crafted in a San Francisco apartment, alongside collaborators Joe Santarpia (Mac DeMarco) and Roberto Pagano (Tonsstartssbandht), in addition to contributions from some of Sweeney’s bandmates in Healing Potpourri.
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This track and others featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of August 2022’ Spotify playlist.
