When the time was ripe for Grammy-winning Los Angeles-based outfit White Sun to record a new batch of songs earlier this year, singer and composer Gurujas Khalsa had no idea that she would end up crafting the band’s first ever Spanish album.
Press release by Mark Gorney, Worldisc
“Everything we do involves following the muse in one way or another,” she explains “I didn’t sit down and suddenly decide to make an album in Spanish. It just happened. The songs came to me, and I felt a visceral need to get them to materialize and bring them to planet Earth.”
As it turns out, the eight tracks of En Busca couldn’t have arrived at a better moment. As Latin music reigns supreme in the pop charts across the globe, White Sun’s contribution adds a ray of luminous tranquility to the conversation.
“We have a lot of listeners in Latin America, and this was an important way to honor our Spanish speaking fans,” adds Gurujas, who years ago spent some time living South of the border. “I first visited Ecuador and the Galapagos islands. “It was very mystical. Then, at a beautiful time in my life, I lived in Colombia for a while. Maybe because of that, En Busca is now my favorite White Sun album. I just love the way these songs expressed themselves through me.”
From the upbeat groove and majestic harmonies of opening cut “Extraños” to the deep bass textures of “Soñadora.” and the delicately layered melody of “Anillos,” En Busca continues the intricate aural journey of previous White Sun outings – the spiritual connections, the stately moods – but with an instinctive understanding of the poetry inherent in the Spanish language.
“I do speak Spanish. It’s my confidence that is the only issue here,” Gurujas laughs with her trademark candor. “Our arranger on this record is Colombian, the string orchestra we employed is Venezuelan, and our producer is Cuban. The energy field that came together through our collaborators is beautiful.”
Formed in Los Angeles in 2015, White Sun began its trajectory as a straight-ahead New Age group, before its rich and prolific journey found its members drawing from progressive pop, electronica and Latin music. Gurujas is joined by Sikh mystic and Kundalini yoga master Harijiwan Khalsa and veteran composer Adam Berry.
Without the backing of a major label, the trio’s music found its way to millions of listeners across the world. The ambitious White Sun II won a Best New Age Album Grammy in 2017, and the group received the award again this year for the more accessible – but equally inspiring – soundscapes of Mystic Mirror. A formidable vocalist, Gurujas enjoyed the chance of performing the National Anthem in front of 55,000 people at Dodgers Stadium in 2019.
“We want the vibrations in the music to uplift people,” she says. “And that can mean a lot of different things. A doctor at UCLA noticed that our albums had a positive effect on Alzheimer patients. At USC, they had as come in and play a concert during finals week, to provide students with some peace and release.”
Now that the new album is receiving overwhelming acclaim from the White Sun fan base, Gurujas cherishes the opportunity to present the new songs in concert.
“After being locked inside the recording studio for so long, it will be great to perform this music in a live setting,” she enthuses. “We’re just trying to make good music and help listeners through the transformative power of our songs.”
She pauses for a moment, and her smile lights up the entire room.
“We’re all looking for something,” she says. “Journeys have a destination, and En Busca talks about the experience of connecting in a million different ways.”
For more information and music samples, visit whitesun.com.
See our White Sun coverage: newagemusic.guide/tag/white-sun