Music of summer days and winter nights

Embers in Snow is the solo musical project of singer/songwriter Rakat Zami who has been a part of the underground indie scene of Bangladesh for about a decade now. After the release of several EPs, his first full length album is finally making a debut on July 25, 2020 and SHOUT received a sneak peek of the whole album before its release.

Solstice begins with the track titled "The Woods" where the singer takes a long walk into memory lane and seems to yearn for lost love and days long gone. It is a fitting starting track as the listeners are able to take a glimpse into the heart of the concept of the entire album; love, loss, and frustration, with a tinge of hope in every song. Spanning nine tracks, the listeners delve into a voyage of the inner turmoil of the songwriter which is backed beautifully by ethereal riffs. 

My personal favourites from the album are "Downtown" and "Snowland". Although the latter was part of his previously released EP, Northern Tales, it has been reshaped to fit musically with the album.

"Downtown" took me into the middle of a busy café, sipping coffee and pining for an old flame. It is a bittersweet song that brought feelings of nostalgia along with acceptance of reality. "Snowland" with its slow and tragic melody signifies a befitting conclusion. What attracted me to this particular track is the guitar riff that is repeated throughout the whole song along with the haunting vocals taking place in the last three minutes of the song.

In conversation with Rakat Zami, he talked about his favourite track from the album, "Safira".

"I had originally written the song back in 2014 and I think it is the perfect representation of how my music has changed over the years," he shares.

What shines through the whole album is the lyrical acumen of the songwriter where he masterfully creates visual landscapes in each of his songs and the listeners are cascaded through these different worlds. A common theme that permeates every track is winter and cold weather. This is great for a July release because it instantly takes you back to the long cold nights that we so sorely miss during every summer.

"Solstice is a synonym for apex or peak. The album represents my place with music at this given point in time. I think this is the best that I can offer, for now. It's my peak or highest point with music," tells Zami.

Keep an eye out for the album release by following Embers in Snow on Facebook at facebook.com/EmbersInSnow and Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/c/embersinsnow/featured

Tasnim Odrika can be reached at odrika_02@yahoo.com