The most challenging aspect of creativity is utilising folk motifs! It’s so easy to make mistakes when blending one’s own vision, contemporary trends (requirements for something), and what has been formed and created over centuries. Those people who can combine the ancient traditions of their homeland and people with modernity are true heroes. They don’t let the heritage of their ancestors be forgotten; they give it a distinctive new life.

This particularly applies to music. Finding an artist who can blend the classical music of their homeland with a modern sound, while keeping the track engaging and never boring or annoying, is a real miracle! Mukura (Ramya Thiyagarajan) has brilliantly solved this complex task in her EP “Onward and Backward”. In it, she blends classical Indian musical nuances and expression, her own original developments, and electropop. Such a mixture compels one to listen to this EP in one breath, without being distracted by anything else. Yet at the same time, it helps one tune in for work or other important events, eliminating negativity and anxiety.

I can definitively say that Mukura in her creativity challenges all accepted conventions. This can be understood literally from the first chords of the song “As Long as There is Time”. A tender and flowing melody, with energetic notes and an unexpected “middle section“, where Mukura tells a story. Such oscillations make one listen to the track with interest and undisguised curiosity until the end. One is so eager to discover what will happen at the end, what other musical surprises Mukura has prepared within the rather modest duration of the EP.

It’s worth highlighting separately an interesting technique that I had previously encountered exclusively in film soundtracks: a gentle guitar flow, changes in vocal timbre and song style (from singing to speaking), muffling of sounds—all this created an incomparable atmosphere of mystery and enigma that one wants to touch, to solve. This made me listen to the track several times. Yes, such combinations and interplay can be heard very rarely, as there’s a risk that for mass listeners such sound might be too unusual. But Mukura managed to do everything in such a way as to maintain interest at a high level.

The following track “Silence” is full of theatricality, brightness, and challenge. It begins with a flowing and, one might say, tragic melody, which gradually changes thanks to the performer’s vocals. The challenge and brightness here are expressed in a distinctive contradiction: the melody may seem sad, tragic, but thanks to Mukura’s vocals and guitar flows, sadness is replaced by a distinctive calmness. One could even say that such a melody personally helped me better cope with the experiences I had been having up to that moment. In other words: my personal opinion is that this track is perfect for meditation or work where attention is necessary and emotions would interfere. The most surprising thing about “Silence” is the skilfully placed pauses. They not only add drama but also make one listen to what exactly Mukura wants to say. Therefore, the distinctive theatricality here is very apt, as it emphasises the lyrical and flowing line of the entire song.

“Onward and Backward” is the complete opposite of “Silence“. In it one feels speed, strength, and energy. Although the first sad notes of the flute cause confusion and even lead one to think “now there will be something sad”. But the gradual inclusion of guitar and piano in the musical fabric changes practically everything. An illusion of increasing speed is created, whilst maintaining fluidity of movement. When listening to it, it’s very difficult to remain still. One wants to move, to do something, and this track inspires.

The concluding track “Fear Sings” combines swiftness with a certain tragedy, drama. But thanks to the arrangement, these two components blend excellently together, and here even a slight hint of mystery, intimacy of the entire song appears. The greatest interest here is aroused by the combination of piano and organ playing. But Mukura left an additional special touch for the end—the track concludes with a sad and majestic organ melody.

“Onward and Backward” is small but very distinctive. For some, all tracks might seem very tragic, somewhat gloomy and attuned to sad themes, whilst for others it might seem that there are too many classical Indian elements in it, which is quite rare for contemporary indie artists (who more often use more popular genres to hook and build an audience). This EP is a treasure, a black pearl however banal that might sound, which one wants to listen to more than once, plus it suits very well for rest or meditation, to tune oneself in the best possible way, casting aside negativity.

I would not call Onward and Backward by Mukura an experimental work. The very notion of experiment feels misplaced here. Its architecture leans away from the urge to astonish through dazzling novelty, instead shaping itself with a careful restraint. The songs avoid flamboyant gestures, refraining from theatrical bursts of color or overwrought climaxes. At the same time, the emotional register remains controlled: sadness appears, but never to the point of flooding the listener with ceaseless lamentation. What emerges instead is a kind of precision, a deliberate balancing act that grants the record its own clarity.

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