AGAM unveils new album at a charity concert in Bengaluru with Akshaya Patra

The album represents a long journey — creatively, emotionally and personally. Over eight years, we’ve been chasing a sound that felt expansive but deeply rooted. The title reflects that. It’s about arriving at something beyond the physical — a sound that feels elevated, yet connected to our traditions. We worked with over 300 m u s i c i a n s a c r o s s f ive continents, which meant longer timelines but also deeper textures.

The album has eight tracks. Some are reinterpretations of classic carnatic compositions and others are original. Each one explores a different raga and mood. The arrangements are layered — some lean heavy and cinematic, others are more atmospheric. There’s a wide dynamic range, but everything ties back to a c e n t r a l e m o t i o n a l a n d musical thread.

This album explores rhythm in a more layered and struct u r a l w ay. Yo u ’ l l h e a r complex time signatures and mixed meter sections built on top of rhythmic ideas from Indian classical music. We’ve experim e n t e d w i t h u n i q u e takes on 5/8 and 7/8 beat cycles, blending them into orchestral and rock frameworks to create grooves that feel both intricate and natural. The goal was never complexity for its own sake — it was about using rhythm to deepen the emotional and dynamic range of each track.

There’s one track where the rhythm mimics a stressed heartbeat — starting calm, accelerating and then fading. It ties into the lyrical and emotional theme of that piece. We’ve also used subtle recurring motifs across tracks — kind of like musical callbacks — for anyone who listens closely enough to spot them.

The track is based on raag saramati and the kriti we’ve reinterpreted is mokshamu galada by Tyagaraja. Saramati carries a sense of yearning and quiet intensity, which made it a natural fit for the mood we were trying to evoke. The lyrics ask whether true liberation is even possible without deep knowledge of music and devotion — a question we translated into a modern, expansive sonic language. The arrangement starts minimal, builds with ambient and orchestral textures and eventually breaks into a heavier progressive metal section, mirroring the emotional arc of the original.

Besides perfor ming our entire existing setlist, which includes previous albums, we’ll also be debuting four brand-new tracks from Arrival of the Ethereal. It’s going to be a powerful mix of everything AGAM has been so far and a glimpse of where we’re going next.

We wanted the album to have a real-world impact beyond music. With Music for Meals, every concert ticket directly supports Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal program. It’s a way for our commnity to come together, through music and make sure children in need don’t go hungry. That’s something we deeply believe in and we’re grateful to be able to make this connection.