Music Review: Down Come the Walls

by Jai-JagdeeshSpirit Voyage
reviewed by John Malkin
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Album cover

DOWN COME THE WALLS is a heart-opening album about personal transformation and removing barriers to authenticity. It’s also about the political walls of our time. “We started recording the day after the last presidential election, so it was an intense moment,” reveals singer/songwriter Jai-Jagdeesh. “I had that vulnerable feeling we all had, where you’re shocked or in a state of disbelief, but processing.”

Jagdeesh’s voice is melancholy and passionate on this third studio album of songs about love and loss. The tune “Hold Your Hand” was inspired by poems of Rabia of Basra from the book Love Poems from God (Daniel Ladinsky, 2002). “Midway through the poems I found myself sitting down to the harmonium and these were the words that popped out,” she told S&H. “It was this love letter from the divine to the humans, saying, No matter what you do, whether you believe in me or not, whether you pray to me or hate me, I will hold you. It’s what I would love to hear whispered in my ear while I meditate, to be reminded that no matter how often I may stumble, there is an energy into which I can collapse.”

Jai Jagdeesh

Jai-Jagdeesh, who grew up in India, also teaches yoga while on tour. “Kundalini yoga, specifically because that’s the one that’s rocked my world!” Down Come the Walls is dedicated in part to all the women of the world. “I’m blown away by the strength and grace of the women I see walking their walk in the world,” Jagdeesh explains. “In the past two or three years there’s been a quantum leap where everything is deeper and stronger in this sisterhood. One of the reasons I was able to open my heart and put energy into this music is because of the tribe of women holding my hand, invisibly or actively.” —JM


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