Tracks:
- Djalambo
- Belorbai
- Tore sensuous
- The Door of Serenity
- Elisia
- Whirling Souls
- Masati
- Dervishing
- Into the Dream
- Shalim Dhar
- Djalambo (epilogue)
French Import at a Domestic Price | Their fourth album. Digipak Release, limited edition with two Bonus tracks. Rajna was born in 1997, discovered by the fine Prikosnovenie Label and was at that time a three piece from France creating music with a decidedly Eastern flavour. Rajna was at that time Gérard (Yang T'Chin ), Fabrice ( Percussions, strings ) and Jeanne for the vocals.
Now, Rajna are Jeanne and Fabrice since Gérard decided to leave the band just after the last album. Rajna can be situated somewhere between dream and journey, it is an encounter with different cultures, civilisations, sounds and emotions. Clearly inspired by the mysteries of the Orient, our compositions blend instruments from all parts the world : Tibet, Nepal, India, Australia, Turkey, North and Central Africa...and more.
Dare to go through The Door Of Serenity and escape from reality towards new musical frontiers and there, you'll reach the wisdom of the spirit, there the wisdom will guide your senses. This new album by RAJNA will reveal you a mellow universe to the frontiers of Central Africa, Anatoly, Australia and more... The Door Of Serenity will lead you to the borders of your musical subconscious, mystical colours, serene and sensual ... a ZEN Atmosphere. RAJNA offer a new sound, more powerful and entrancing ... close to DEAD CAN DANCE productions. Once more, RAJNA used a myriad of traditional ethnic instruments : kora, sanza, udu, djembe, harp loma, ramkie, santoor, saz, ney, derbouka, bendir, bamboo flutes... Jeanne's singing is more and more rich and varied, with numerous intonations and intensity, with sensuality and always inspired by her Muse Lisa GERRARD. Just lie down, close your eyes and let your senses come through The Door Of Serenity to reach peace, wisdom and spirituality ... No doubt, you truly are in the World of RAJNA.
A review from musictap.net There is a state of musical bliss that is attained when the music that we are listening to becomes one with the consciousness of our being. This is not a hard thing to achieve. As a matter of fact, we do it all the time. Put in a CD that is pure magic and you're transported, for the time being, to a state of spiritual oneness for lack of a better way to describe it.
The extraordinary talents of Dead Can Dance brought this sense to many during their reign as the essential 'soundtrack of the soul' progenitors. The exquisite vocal beauty of Lisa Gerrard added dimension to the tonal extravagance that was DCD. In their departure, and perhaps, their arrogance that none could possibly pick up the baton and complete the race that they had begun, they must have been totally unaware of the potentially greater Rajna. Rajna, a duo of such power that I must only listen to this disc in parts for fear of merging with the tranquil spiritual aethers. Just kidding, of course, but this provides you with the sufficient effects that Rajna can accomplish with their soundsphere. It is revolving with every metaphor that I can conjure up. It is religion, air, and dreams. It is visitation with your inner self. And it can be other things given the chance. Like a drug, this music can have alternating effects.
Rajna have created a stream of ethereal sounds with the use of traditional and exotic instruments coupled with the use of synths. Merge in the (what words can I use here to describe the unearthly voice of Jeanne Lefebvre) multi-dimensional and extremely capable vocals talents of Jeanne and layer in the exotic Euro/Eastern musical components and you have an album of such incredible capacity that it could be other than what it is; a doorway to another plane, a key to inner exploration. I'm not even going to comment on other applications. I'll leave that to your fevered imagination. But I bet this disc could be your vehicle to that destination. Instrumentalist Fabrice Lefebvre provides the range of musical explorations created by old world instruments. Picking up where DCD left off at their peak, Rajna have escalated the advancement of the style by exploring vast uncharted musical terrain, painstakingly mapping the results of aural involvement and releasing the whole as a sketch of spiritual ascendency with an accompanying soundtrack. The heavenly spheres of "Djalambo" and its epilogue, "Djalambo (epilogue)" are exceptional. My CD player detected a 12th track not indicated on the CD that played a beautiful and haunting vocal piece. Every track is a sonic delight that takes you someplace else with enough diversity to equip you for every circumstance.
The artistic approach to the tracks are unmatched by any standard that I have heard as of yet. I didn't think that anyone could surpass the art that was DCD's standard...but I was wrong. Rajna is THE logical replacement to the ethereality that was DCD. If you enjoyed Dead Can Dance (DCD) then go further with Rajna. - Matt Rowe
A review from the Ethereality Yahoo Group, The French band Rajna's work has always reminded me of musical travelogues. Their compositions are aural souvenirs of their exotic explorations. Last cd,
The Heady Wine of Praise, it was a trip to India, both its sacred and profane spaces; previous trips have been to Tibet. North Africa is Fabrice and Jean Lefebvre latest adventure. Like all such trips, the experiences collected to can be profound, inexplicable, frightening and sometimes silly. Fabrice tends toward simple, hypnotic trance-like mélanges of ethnic instruments, such as the oud, the saz, the santoor and the yang t'chin; they are held together by synthesizers, rhythms and Jeanne's mostly wordless, operatic vocals. The opening track starts with what sounds a digeridoo, out of which a majestic tableaux of drums and strummed instruments grows. Jeanne's repetitive chant gives the piece some structure and form. The title track, "Belorbai" and the brief "Elisia" follow in the same vein. They are mesmeric, devotional pieces. Other souvenirs don't work as well. "Tore Sensuous," with orgasmic pants and a disco beat, is an unfortunate cross between Hare Krishna and porn music. "Whirling Souls," in which whispered New Age poetry reveals Rajna's spiritual/philosophic leanings are also a mistake; the opacity of belief is what's interesting. In spelling things out, a lot of the magic is lost. Things rightfully return to the shadows with the rhythm- driven "Dervishing," the best Dead Can Dance song never recorded and the truly eerie unlisted tracks at the end of the cd. While I don't always appreciate Rajna's artifacts, most of them are exquisite.
Excerpt from a review at starvox.net The Door Of Serenity offers impressive arrangements of both haunting female voice and male whispers. The instrumentation outshines practically every current ‘dark’ music act that relies so heavily on synths and the latest beat box. And without question, the atmosphere succeeds in summoning sun-scorched deserts, musky seraglios, and all the voluptuous delights of the Orient. Rajna is a noteworthy outfit contributing to this flourishing tradition, and not just another Dead Can Dance clone. There are moments of sublime transcendence to be found in this disc;
The Door Of Serenity is the perfect album to expand the CD collections of Rhea’s Obsession, Dead Can Dance, and Hagalaz Runedance fans." - Mathew
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