Bianca Nisha’s album ‘Blood&Sugar’ feels like moving through a forest under dark, grey skies in a flowy dress with your hair let loose, and you will know what we are talking about the moment you give the album a listen.
Blood&Sugar
Starting off with gentle piano notes, the title track ‘Blood&Sugar’ showcases a beautiful balance between softness and intensity. The layered vocals and the harmonies act like an instrument on their own, adding immense character to the song. The way the song moves sets the tone for the rest of the album.
Heavy
This track opens up with a heavy bass riff, staying true to its title ‘Heavy.’ Gradually, the song brings in layers of all the violin, the cello, and a percussion that adds further density to the texture of the song.
Tremble My Heart
The cello being a significant part of the instrumentation of the song, ‘Tremble My Heart’ feels like a play between letting loose and restrain, and this play comes through brilliantly. The pulse-like rhythms in the song will stick with you.
River
Picking up pace compared to the previous songs, ‘River’ stays true to its name and flows in a powerful, unrestrained manner while exuding grace and beauty. The vocal layers in this song feel like an orchestra in session.
Eavesdropping
Nisha’s haunting vocals opening the track, ‘Eavesdropping’ feels like the kind of atmosphere that you’d want to live in always. The painful lyrics that talk about distance and growing apart feel like pain that has been gilded in gold because of the ethereal music.
Frozen Freedom
The duality that the entire album embodies is very much obvious in the title ‘Frozen Freedom.’ The short notes, fast paced movement of the instrumentation lend a level of urgency to the song that is stripped down by the vocals.
Silk Breathing
Soft, delicate piano and vocals starting off the track, ‘Silk Breathing’ does feel like soft, soft silk in your hands. The vocals in the song move smoothly, flow effortlessly. The instrumentation picks up in the middle and then falls again later.
Cheater
An intense, mysterious sounding riff starting off the track, ‘Cheater’ has the intense musicality you’d expect with the song’s themes. Some sinister, warning-like mood colours the song and the instrumentation perfectly complement that atmosphere.
Crystalline
With floaty, gentle piano notes starting off the track. ‘Crystalline’ feels like floating on water in slow motion with nothing to harm you or hinder you. A significant portion of the song is instrumental, and this allows the soundscape of the album, musically, to come to the forefront.
Symphony of Silence
Duality of the album coming into the title once again, ‘Symphony of Silence’ as the second to last song on the album takes on the role of guiding the album towards its end. Nisha’s Floaty, whispery vocals feel extremely calming to the senses.
Weeping Willow
The last song on the album, ‘Weeping Willow’ acts as a fitting close to the album, and holds on to the ethereal factor that the all of the songs embody. The vocals, the instrumentation feel like a lullaby, and this feels quite right as a thematic close to the album.
A wonderfully, thoughtfully crafted, ‘Blood&Sugar’ is an album that has been crafted for a specific mood with a specific mood gone into its creation, and without a doubt it is one that will calm your senses like nothing else.