Bhopal’s Flowers ‎– Diamond Queen / The Majestic Purple Sky

Employing a gently swept tamboura and sitar played according to the traditional Hindustani raga aesthetics, with a catchy riff on choruses, “Diamond Queen” is inspired by traditional Hindustani short compositions, known as gat. It represents the gift of plurality received from the deity of dawn, Usha, to mankind. Given Usha’s dawns are rich and radiant, shiny guitar tones are mixed with the traditional instrumentation, adding ornamented arpeggios of 12-string Rickenbacker (on the right) and an edgy Telecaster solo (on the left), both plugged on an AC-30 Vox. The song is paced by a dancing bass line delivered by a Hofner violin bass and a roomy surf-rock drum beat, complemented by a ’60s tambourine (on the left) and a tabla groove (on the right). “The Majestic Purple Sky” is a tribute to Surayana and dusk, and is inspired by the idea, from an Olivier Messiaen interview, that birds sing much better at dusk, creating a choir that reflects the beautiful red-orange-purple colors of the sky during that short but intense period of time. After the grand finale, strings and vocal choir sing a unison melody representing the slow motion color change that closes the twilight.

BOX 1 SINGLES