Review by Tara Saraf
Indian-Canarian rapper and artist ABHIR has returned with ULTRASWAN, a new album that follows 2023’s BROWN BOY, an eclectic project that seamlessly and adamantly incorporated elements from both of his cultures. I vividly remember the astonishment I felt at hearing the album’s opening lyrics in Spanish being answered by the verses of a bhajan, all encapsulated by immaculate production from Saint Lowe. The unique fusion of his Indian culture and Canarian upbringing was, paradoxically, something I felt represented by and something that I’d never experienced before.
In ULTRASWAN, ABHIR comes out swinging and embraces the duality of human nature with an even more cinematic approach. Just look at the album cover; It’s a swan, but if you flip it around, you see an elephant. ABHIR and his production team were inspired by the movie The Black Swan, and his previous stage name included a shortened version of his last name – Hathi, meaning “elephant” in Hindi. The swan reminds me of the cover art for Sega Bodega’s Dennis, an album that similarly embraces the crossroads of folk and electronic music. In an interview with Diario AS, after being asked about what draws him to the black swan, ABHIR mentions having imposter syndrome, but says that it’s been getting better as of late: I actually think that his music could be part of the solution to this.
“Yo tengo headline shows, yo solo tuve paciencia / I have headline shows, I just had patience”, he boasts on “Vanidad.” It’s a perfect reintroduction to Abhir and where’s he at now. In fact, ABHIR is currently on a world tour for the album, and the amount of FOMO I’m feeling at the lack of a U.S. date is a testament to Abhir’s ability to make music that gets people moving and makes crowds roar. This album’s tagline seems to be “SOME RAGE 2 REMEMBER / SOME RAGE TO FORGET”, which adequately sums up the energy of this new era. The synths that open the song Plié Relevé bring me back to early 2000s songs and even the quieter and more vulnerable moments on ULTRASWAN such as “Acapulco” and “Hermes” are standout tracks for me. At the end of “Glasgow”, ABHIR says he doesn’t fear any man except God. It feels like a continuation of his feelings of uncertainty regarding religion on “ABEL”, a quasi-ballad that questions the presence of various religious figures in his life. The features across the album didn’t disappoint either. On my favorite track, “Backflips”, ABHIR invites Scottish-Indonesian artist Ledbyher for a verse and their combined energy produces one of the most memorable moments of the album. He also references legendary DJ Peggy Gou multiple times, asking everyone “who made it tremble [like her]?” We ultimately meet a frenzied, leveled-up ABHIR on ULTRASWAN. In my opinion, he is one of the most exciting artists in the Spanish scene today and I’m crossing my fingers that one day he pays his fans in the U.S. a visit.
