Few artistic evolutions feel quite as fascinating as the one Karen Salicath Jamali embraces on ‘Om Mare Shangri-la’. After years of building an extraordinary body of dream-inspired piano music, the award-winning composer steps confidently into the world of contemporary and indie-folk, introducing her voice, lyrics and acoustic guitar across nine deeply personal songs.
But what makes this transition so compelling is how naturally it connects with everything that came before it. Her music has always been rooted in stillness, intuition and spiritual reflection, and this new offering simply gives those ideas a new language. The atmospheric calm of her instrumental work remains, but the addition of her voice makes the experience feel more immediate, intimate and personal.
Focus track ‘The Ocean of the Seals’ sits at the heart of that transformation. Gentle and emotionally open, it explores the idea of an eternal love that exists beyond earthly separation, framing death as a return to something larger. The song’s understated acoustic setting gives that theme space to breathe, allowing her vocal delivery and imagery to carry much of the emotional weight.
Following a near-death experience in 2012, she began experiencing music in a completely new way, eventually composing thousands of pieces and developing what she describes as Quintessence Music; music received through moments of stillness and connection rather than simply constructed in a conventional sense.
And on ‘Om Mare Shangri-la’, that philosophy feels newly energised. Her established meditative world is still present, but it’s now joined by the warmth and directness of songwriting, opening up an entirely different side of her creativity.
Warm, spiritual and wonderfully sincere, ‘Om Mare Shangri-la’ feels like the beginning of another major creative chapter where Karen Salicath Jamali’s voice becomes every bit as important as the dreamlike music that first made her such a distinctive presence.