Just a few seconds into DieciDee, the first song of the homonymous EP of emerging artist AMÆMI, you already know you’re in for a treat. Computer sounds that are at uncanny yet organic, almost getting you ready for an initiation ritual in the midst of a millenary jungle, set the tone of the six-track EP. It is very cliché to say that an album is a journey, but in this case, it really is; it’s a guided spiritual journey that bridges Western avant-garde music making with the Eastern tradition of the Ten Tantric Goddesses.
In DieciDee, her debut EP, AMÆMI blends trap, noise, ambient, and trance with mantras in such a particular way that leaves the listener feeling both lost and found. What have I just listened to? What has my body experienced? Is this something I had previously heard somewhere? Those questions arise, but at the same time, there is a sense of warmth inside of you, your spirit has elevated somehow. Because in today’s world, it’s normal to find solace both in spiritual, centuries-long mantras and hard-hitting club music – see, for example, Krim, which best encapsulates this dichotomy. AMÆMI’s vocals go from angelic to distorted, and the song has so many different levels and moments that you can dance or pray to it. And that’s what’s so genius about it.
As we were mentioning earlier, the record is a journey through the Ten Main Goddesses of the Tantric tradition, each of which personifies an energy present in the human being, from the aggressiveness and propulsive violence of Kali, to the healing power of the spoken word of Matangi. The second single the artist released, Taha, is ironically the last song on the EP, and it’s named after the bija mantra of Chinnamasta, the goddess of creative energy. With a repetitive drum and beat, the song is aimed at physical and mental liberation, at breaking free from moulds and go back to our primal instincts, which are the purest form of creativity.
On the other hand, Dhum has a more enveloping sound, it creates and atmosphere that is meant to be more reflective, meditative, introspective. Sensuality and contemplation meet purifying energy, and we find that in both the dreamy melodies and AMÆMI’s voice, guiding us through this rebirth with her voice (speaking in Italian by the way). Sao, the shortest track of the record, is very similar on that note, feeling more contemplative and also featuring mantras that invite the listener to reflect and meditate. That’s not the case with Aim, which has more technology-fueled, electronic spirit. It’s more experimental, and we hear AMÆMI whispering more mantras that actually feel more like spells (Chi sono io? Energia / Chi sono io? Liberazione).
Through this meditative, weird, and genre-defying journey bridging Eastern beliefs with Western technology, AMÆMI has crafted a record that feels and sounds innovative.
