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Jan 23, 2020 Khushi By Michael Watkins

The debut effort from London-born singer-songwriter Kalim Patel under the pseudonym Khushi is a real slow burner. Perfect for January blues—much like last year’s offering from his mentor and album mixer James Blake—Strange Seasons offers a strong running list of compositions that rumble, like sounds echoing around the forest of a dense Nordic winter. These songs ebb and flow, build and fall away, and create an alarming amount of space for atmosphere. For an artist making the opening solo statement of his career, it is a record that feels incredibly self-assured and resolute. Patel’s patience and knack for allowing his compositions to breathe is already very telling.

There isn’t quite the “signature song” feel to any of the tracks produced here—although lead-single “Freedom Falls” and behemoth centerpiece “This Is” give it a good go—and the heavy presence of Blake’s signature style often brings the album too far into the shadow of his stellar back catalogue—as a sort of Overgrown-lite, if you will. But, for an artist finding his feet in the solo sphere, there is more than enough here for fans to get excited by. (www.khushimusic.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10