Hamza Rahimtula is back — this time, in collaboration with Rajasthan Folkstars, with an album spanning 10 tracks [excluding the extended versions, which if added to the calculations, would sum up to 20]. A press-release from Rahimtula states : “Featuring master musicians Jaisa Khan (khartal), Firoz Khan (bhapang), Bhutta Khan (vocals), Bhawru Khan (sarangi), and
Shakoor Khan Langa (algoza flute, morchang), Origins is a vivid tapestry of sound where ancestral instruments meet modern electronic production. From the spiritual intensity of Ishq Laga Mainu to the festival euphoria of Ghumar, the album creates a seamless dialogue between raw folk expression and club-ready grooves.
At the heart of Origins lies a deep respect for Rajasthani oral traditions. The Manganiyars—Hamza’s collaborators—are known as the living archives of the Thar Desert, carrying centuries of ballads, devotional songs, and intergenerational knowledge. “In our families, when children are born, they cry in tune,” goes a famous saying in their community.”
The album is an experiment in spatiality – because an integration of house music into Rajasthani folk sounds already knocks down the barriers of enforced topography. For example, the opening track on the album — Earth is percussive, and Rahimtula throws at you afrobeats and synths, before you have Bhutta Khan’s vocals float right in. The faint sarangi adds to the layering of the track, and you get a sense of what the entire record is going to sound like.
Something interesting about this record, is that it is not actually created to emulate the structure of “songs”, instead, it is asymmetrical – mounting fragments of snippets that coalesce to form something that sounds coherent and distinct, and not just undirected soundbytes that do not amount to anything. Sky, the next track, has a similar sound, with more presence of the sarangi — which is undoubtedly the star of the entire record. Algoza, however rises as a strong disputer of the same – as Khan’s flute acquires prominence, and a well founded one at that. The track features a snippet from one of Nelson’s Mandela lectures.
A personal favorite of mine is Morchang Love – the eerie intro to the song paired with the karthal, it is fun, unpredictable, and features Hamza’s favourite instrument—an ancient jaw harp with a primal, acid-like resonance—intertwining with vocal textures to create a hypnotic call-and-response. The synths work perfectly with this, and its blending into slight-trap seems interesting. Almost every track feels like it has been cut out of the same megacloth, as they blend into each other, instead of trying too hard to form very distinct sonic identities.
Rahimtula and the Folkstars use a lot of mythology in their music, borrowing from Sufism, stories of Radha Krishna, and tales of rain gods. The press-release states further, “With Origins, Hamza Rahimtula doesn’t just bridge genres—he builds a new space where folk authenticity and global house music meet. The album is both a tribute and a transformation, elevating traditional sounds for contemporary audiences”
While listening to the album, one also realizes that the intent of the record is not to create a distinct separate track one after the other/ but to create a long, clever flowing project that exists not as one for individual listening — but one that gets to you in the form of the multiple blocks that exist within it. The only critique I could possibly have is the excessive use of the percussive line of beats, which makes the soundscape monotonous, and takes away the sense of anticipation that is there when a new track opens up for you. Other than that, Origins is a great album – solid, intentioned, and structured, playing in dimensions of collaboration in sound exciting for enjoyers of anyone who loves music that experiments.
