When One Door Closes, Surely Another Will Open – Mahamaya Experience (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Mahamaya Experience and Ranjit Makkuni, the person behind it, often make music that feels like it works on an epic scale, not just regarding the scope of the music but also in the message being broadcast. It is the music of ancient mysteries and enlightened states, of the search for wisdom and the hidden meanings of life. When One Door Closes, Surely Another Will Open operates on more personal and intimate levels, and the brevity and understatement of the music reflect this more delicate sonic pursuit.

And, as instrumental music, it is down to the playing itself to reflect the story being told here. The more dissonant notes being drawn out of the sitar represent the challenges that we face as we navigate life’s complexities. Over a long musical evolution, this dissonance is slowly honed into more beautiful resolutions. Slowly, these more difficult sounds are submerged by harmonious tones, the more meditative sounds of the Gyuto monks’ choir, and sweeter sounds being drawn from the sitar. Melody and meditation going hand in hand.

Ranjit posits one meaning for this sonic story as being that of an ageing musician snapping out of the illusions that many artists surround themselves with and waking up to the realisation of the true transient nature of life, and indeed of the life of a musician, especially when looking back and realising how far they have come and what mountains they have overcome. But, as always, that message has a broader application, and this slow transition from slightly off-kilter sounds into more pleasing and melodic forms, that transition from harshness to harmony is a metaphor that works for all of us.