George Harrison’s “The Inner Light”, released in March 1968 as the B-side to the Beatles’ “Lady Madonna“, presented meditation in a revolutionary way. Even today, during Covid19 quarantine, many have found the song’s lyrics deeply inspiring and comforting. Osmunda Music recently released their “The Inner Light” version. It is a lovely and easygoing rendition that feels more “at home” than the original – which is probably right since it is the only Beatles studio recording to be made outside Europe. “The Inner Light” is a gift to Osmunda Music fans everywhere, just when we need it the most.
Rebecca Trujillo Vest began singing and playing guitar in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the early 1970s as a young girl. She moved to Los Angeles in the mid 90’s. Along with her husband, Michael Vest, she started the band Space Babies. They recruited John X Volaitis to help produce their studio albums, which include “Space Babies” (2009), “Spaceport” (2018), and “The Space Babies Show: A Song in a Day” (2018). Two Osmunda Music albums were released in 2019, “Munda” and “Love Will Overcome”. “Sending My Love” followed in 2020. In our review, we wrote: “It is one of the finest collections of New Age pop in years. The love Osmunda Music sends out is both inspirational and possibly life-changing. It is a love you want to receive.”
The Inner Light
Osmunda Music recorded “The Inner Light” in connection with George Harrison’s Material World Foundation “The Inner Light Challenge”, an initiative to raise funds for the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This “The Inner Light” version goes deep instantly. DNA-deep, if you look at the very first seconds of the video. The soundscape is rich and complex; The light percussion, the bubbly synth keys, and the bass are, hands down, world-class audio design. Notice the song’s warmth too. It is as if we are listening to an LP, which is very in tune with the Beatles vibe. Soon a gentle synth arp makes the sound even more intense. I love how Osmunda Music combines the 1960s sound (including guitars and a tasteful selection of Indian instruments) with cutting edge synths and , and voice layering. It is inspired.
When Rebecca Trujillo Vest begin singing, all attention is on her voice and her message to us:
Without going out of my door
I can know all things of earth
Without looking out of my window
I could know the ways of heaven
The farther one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows
Without going out of your door
You can know all things on earth
Without looking out of your window
You could know the ways of heaven
The farther one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows
Arrive without traveling
See all without looking
Do all without doing
© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
No wonder that these lyrics have inspired so many over the last year or so. Suddenly “Without going out of my door” meant more than George Harrison could ever have imagined.
“The Inner Light Challenge” has given us many nice versions of the song – but I believe Osmunda Music is one of the very best. It is true to the original, yet it is modern and updated in terms of expression and sound. Rebecca Trujillo Vest’s vocal fits the song perfectly – and the mixing and mastering is cutting edge.
I’m tempted to say; if you give Osmunda Music three minutes of your time, you could know the ways of heaven.
For more information and music samples, visit osmundamusic.com
To get our complete Osmunda Music feature, see here.