“Salvation” is the best way to taste test Tash Sultana’s music from Flow State. It’s atmospheric and whilst perhaps a little dirgey in places, a really different track compared to everything else on the album, showing Tash’s versatility. It reminds me of when Vanessa Mae took violin music to the dance floor and caught everyone off guard in terms of genre mashups.

Whilst the guitar is most definitely the centrepiece, the other instrument used widely throughout is the electric piano and its warm vibes often form the base of a track to then jam over like “Murder of the Mind” and synths reign supreme in the instrumental “Seven” which is like a contemporary classical piece except replacing strings with synths and guitars. The transitions feel natural and even with all the production sheen, the electric guitar solo absolutely rocks. “Cigarettes” starts off very chilled before turning into a more frenzied uptempo rock jam for its outro. They meander and flow freely and whilst I love how punchy the drums are, they take a back seat to the guitar and vocals throughout. The drums often feel like they are programmed a little rigidly, even if the beat isn’t rigid but I think it’s because of how soulful and reliant on space the guitar playing, and in later songs the vocals are.

The guitars are warm and bright and each strum gives a glow to the track. Tash SultanaĪfter the bluesy guitar and vocal solo of “Seed” whisks you in with a luscious bluesy production that reeks of soulful jazz we launch into “Big Smoke” which has the groove machines, guitars and synths production feel more like an early 90’s soul-pop band. Flow State is most definitely a plugged, band effort and whilst you can hear the roots of the tracks all the way back to their looped demos and live versions, their fully formed versions are soulful and jamming.

Possibly one of the most soulful records put to tape in yearsīursting onto the music scene with several home recordings of amazingly soulful guitar looped tracks with beatboxing and synths on the side, Tash Sultana has carefully waited a good while for her debut album Flow State to arrive a few years later following the EP notion.

Flowstate music