27th April, 2024
12th January, 2023Bombay Dub Orchestra (BDO) return from a 10-year hiatus to release Shantaram’s Long Lonely Road feat. Meghdeep Bose. The song was released on 6th January 2023, through Bohemia Junction Recording Co. The song is available on all streaming platforms.
Garry Hughes and Andrew T. Mackay are the British electronica/orchestral composers behind BDO and Meghdeep Bose is the celebrated Indian producer, composer, arranger and singer. Together they have reworked the song Long Lonely Road, written by the songwriter, composer, artist and best-selling author of ‘Shantaram’, Gregory David Roberts (GDR). The song is taken from GDR’s debut album ‘Love & Faith’, co-produced by GDR and Dale ‘Dizzle’ Virgo.
‘Shantaram’ the no.1 AppleTV+ series, is based on Roberts’ critically acclaimed best seller of the same name, which has sold over 7 million copies in 46 languages.
Shantaram’s Long Lonely Road feat. Meghdeep Bose opens with a cinematic landscape, taking you on a voyage through rousing classical strings, mesmerizing beats, with a heavy dub base. GDR’s gravelly vocals lead, whilst Meghdeep’s smooth hypnotic Urdu lyrics are complimented by the Mumbai based Bansuri (Indian Flute) player Tejas Vinchurkar. Together they create a new melody and bring a poignancy, complimenting GDR’s song, which was written for all the people that cannot let go of a lost loved one.
Both GDR and Megdeep’s lyrics convey the deep feelings of lost love and have a spiritual quality to them…May your faith always be reborn, I pray you find a way, a truth, a life to live says GDR, as Meghdeep sings Your love is my home, My soul dwells on your doorstep. My prayers are from your love. My liberation is from your love. From your love, from your love.
The connection for the remake came through Jamaican producer Dale ‘Dizzle’ Virgo who had worked with both Garry and Andrew in Kingston and GDR at Geejam Studios, Port Antonio, Jamaica. Andrew T. Mackay said, “Garry and I have both spent a lot of time in many of the places that the book (Shantaram) depicts. We felt a familiarity and synergy of musical taste, as if we knew GDR before, just through uncanny serendipity, although it’s only now through working on this record that we’ve connected.”
On hearing the remake GDR said, “I’m thrilled and very grateful that the legends BDO brought their iconic sound to Long Lonely Road. I wrote the song to help people let go of lost loved ones. BDO captured the mood and emotional range from sadness to shining hope so beautifully, that it gave me goosebumps. The first time I heard it I felt a shock through my body. I loved what BDO did with the track. Meghdeep’s voice is sublime, it was an honour and dream to have an artist like him add rhapsody to the song.”
The track was recorded in London, Monmouth (Wales) and Mumbai and mastered by legendary Geoff Pesche - A Dolby Atmos master is also available mastered by Christian Wright at Abbey Road Studios, which is available on Apple Music and gives audiences another level of listening pleasure.
Artists: Gregory David Roberts (GDR), Bombay Dub Orchestra, Meghdeep Bose
The track can be streamed here:
