BY JAGRUTI VERMA

Sometimes, one hears music by ears, sometimes closed eyes, and sometimes excited feet. Some songs help you achieve it all, depending on your physical, mental and spiritual space. Aura Blaze’s Open-Mindedness is a three-track EP that does it all. It can be best described visually and not aurally. It’s optically vivid in its treatment of sounds and tunes. The EP is designed to bring forth nostalgic emotions, dipped in radiant, swirling neon hues. 

Released around Christmas 2021, Open-Mindedness was supposed to be a summer release. Against the background of a virus that created havoc and an external hard drive crash halting its production, Blaze beat the blues and released a spectacular project for all of our emotional seasons. 

“Open-Mindedness,” the track, brings along soft but loud energy to the listening experience. The intensity of these verberations grows manifold as the listener progresses to “Summer Solstice.” It is here that one can feel the divinity of the EP the most. Peppered with a soul-touching aura, the psychedelic nature gets revealed in the first track, while the nudge for self-exploration intensifies in the second. 

Love and God are two unexplainable phenomena that one can only feel. Both stir something deep within and can only be shared with those they trust. Open-Mindedness includes a cover of “The Only One I Know” by The Charlatans. Blaze has put together a refreshing take on this over two-decade-old single. The piece is placed somewhere on the spectrum between Love and God. Or perhaps a better way to look at it would be to think of the listener’s placement, whose experience drives the sonic journey. 

Blaze has tried to help listeners bridge the gaps between past and future by letting them explore the present. The timing of the EP could not have been better as it comes as the world is grappling to find the meaning of all things mortal in unprecedented times. Open-Mindedness is a balm that tides over loose ends without overpowering the listener’s experience. It doesn’t tell us what to feel. It only tells us to feel.

These three tracks have been worked on methodically with a heavy digital hand. It’s almost ironic as they seemingly aim to bloom organic experiences. The undercurrents of the tunes are such that they could be heard on a long drive through the country roads as well as be someone’s perfect song for their wedding day. The range of the listening experience lies in the depth of the emotions Blaze has infused in it.

Rating: 8.5/10

Listen to Open-Mindedness on Spotify:

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