''Wilder Shores'' is the eighth studio album by vocalist

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...

. Unlike her previous releases, which have largely been characterized as

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

, it consists of a series of Sikh chants performed by Carlisle in

Gurmukhi Gurmukhī ( pa, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). It is used by Punjabi Sikhs to write the language, commonly r ...

. It is her first studio album in ten years, since the release of ''

Voila Voila or Voilà may refer to: Music * VOILÀ, LA-based pop-rock duo featuring Gus Ross and Luke Eisner * ''Voila'' (album), by singer Belinda Carlisle * "Voila", a single by Radio Killer which charted in Romania * '' Voila!'', an album by Itali ...

'' (2007), a collection of

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

s Carlisle performed in French.

Conception

Carlisle commented on her inspiration behind making the album, specifically her practising of

Kundalini yoga Kundalini yoga () derives from ''kundalini'', defined in tantra as energy that lies within the body, frequently at the navel or the base of the spine. In normative tantric systems kundalini is considered to be dormant until it is activated (a ...

; "I have been practicing Kundalini Yoga for over twenty five years and in the last twelve years I have built up a serious practice routine and begun studying the mantras that are used in classes much more closely. I’ve always wanted to do an album like this but I never felt I was ready until early in 2015. It’s not just music on this album, it’s a science that requires an element in the voice called the naad. Naad is almost a transference of energy through the voice and it wasn’t easy for me to learn. "That being said, I am a pop singer so I could never be a traditional chant or kirtan artist as it would not be true to who I am. Wilder Shores is therefore still a pop album with the same structure of verse, bridge and chorus as my previous records but it is done with repetitive chanting."

Reception

Haydon Benfield of ''

Renowned for Sound ''Renowned for Sound'' is an Australian online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a pri ...

'' wrote, "Being an album of chant, Carlisle’s matured soprano is definitely the centre of attention, and it is certainly pleasing, displaying a rich, resonant timbre throughout. ''Wilder Shores'' proves to be an easy listen, lending itself to being a good choice if the listener is seeking background music, but unless they are engaging in meditation, chanting along, or are aficionados, it is hard to picture the record from working other contexts." Timothy Monger of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

added, "This yoga-inspired set certainly won't be for everyone, and while it would be all too easy to write off Wilder Shores as a late-career indulgence, give Carlisle credit for once again challenging herself as a singer and artist." Steve Harnell of ''

Classic Pop Magazine ''Classic Pop'' is a bi-monthly British music magazine, which launched in October 2012. It was devised and founded by Ian Peel, who was also editor for the first 19 issues. Rik Flynn stepped in as editor until Issue 23 followed by current editor S ...

'' commented, "Another intriguing back catalogue outlier, Carlisle’s first album in a decade and last to date is inspired by her practice of Kundalini yoga. Three years in the making, the LP sets traditional chants within a traditional Western pop framework and works remarkably well."

Conception

Reception

Track listing

Charts

References

External links