‘Gayatri - Source of Love' is the third single to be released from Adrian Freedman’s upcoming album of Mantra Songs ‘One Thousand Petals’, his 15th studio album, arriving February 2025. The recording brings together singers and musicians from Norway, Australia, Brazil, Italy and the UK.
Adrian is an English musician whose music crosses continents and genres, having lived for many years in Japan, India, Brazil and other countries, deeply immersed in musical collaborations, spiritual practice and nature.His medicine songs present a weaving of the chants and mantras of Eastern traditions together with poetic English lyric verses, fresh melodies and instrumental colours.
‘Gayatri - Source of Love' combines a Vedic mantra more than 3000 years old, with inspiration from a poem by Dylan Thomas, and a nocturnal journey through the forest with spirit guides.
Musically the song is a collaboration between Adrian, the renowned Norwegian singer Helene Bøksle, and the Australian singer and sound healer Darpan.
Adrian and Darpan met on the island sanctuary of K’gari on the south-eastern coast of Australia during a vision quest, and subsequently came to perform and record music together, including Adrian’s reworking of Darpan’s song Peace Awakening, which appeared on the Kindred Souls album in 2021. On this new track their voices blend seamlessly, taking it in turns to take the lead voice as the song gently unfolds to its soaring finale.
Helene Bøksle comes from the fjords and mountains of Norway. She has released nine solo albums and is well-known throughout Norway for the unique, ethereal qualities of her voice, and for her songs that combine Scandinavian tales and landscapes with modern impulses. Adrian met Helene through his studio work in Oslo, and invited her to take part in this project. She contributes a stunning vocal part to the song, bringing it to an epic climax with a keening vocal solo that seems to evoke ancient Nordic spirits against the backdrop of the chanted Mantra.
This song came about when Adrian was faced with an extremely challenging situation, in a tight corner, and no obvious way out! Sitting quietly in the dark trying not to panic, the words of the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas came spontaneously to his mind:
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at the close of the day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
As Adrian remembers: “As these words ran through my head, I remembered all the soft, calm energies of the zen shakuhachi flute I had been playing for years, and the teachings associated with it, and from that image the words of the poem transformed into a new verse:
Go soft into the deep of the nightDo not rage against the dying of the lightFor the stars will come, and the moon will shine And in this darkness you will find Your way to the source of love.
After this the words to the other verses to this new song naturally flowed one after the other, culminating in a surprise with an appearance of the ancient Gayatri mantra from the Rig Veda. This mantra is an expression of gratitude and wonder for the powers of transformation, growth and illumination given by the Sun. Somehow the initial rather tight, angry imagery of the poem and the situation I was in, became expanded, fluid and filled with light. The situation transformed itself, I became free, and walked away with this song!”
The other musicians on the track include Txai Fernando, Carlos Gomes and Renato Anesi from Brazil playing guitars and percussion; Bridget O’Donell, violin: Ben Michaels, cello; George Fogle, keyboards; and the 12-piece choir of the Devon-based Glorious Chorus led by Helen Yeomans. String arrangements are by Misha Mullov-Abbado. The track is mixed by Nils Olav and produced by Adrian, who also plays the piano.
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About ‘One Thousand Petals’
‘One Thousand Petals’ is Adrian Freedman’s 15th studio album. It features collaborations with Deva Premal, Ayla Schafer, Geshe Lama Ahbay Rinpoche, Chandra Lacombe, Helen Bøksle, Sanju Sahai, and over 30 other singers and musicians from around the world. Recorded in multiple locations over the past 5 years, it represents a culmination of Adrian’s love of cross-cultural musical collaborations, as well as the beginning of a new project to record his medicine mantra songs.
The songs on the One Thousand Petals album are taken from Adrian’s medicine songbook Lotus Rising. These songs arise as messages of hope, transformation, a longing for peace and understanding, connection with ancestral spirits, and a reverence for the natural beauties of the forests, rivers, mountains and beyond.
Adrian lived for many years in Japan, India, Brazil and other countries, deeply immersed in nature, in spiritual retreats, and in creative projects with other musicians. His medicine songs present a seamless weaving of the chants and mantras of Oriental traditions together with the poetic imagery of his original English lyrics.
The tracks of the One Thousand Petals album have a gentle, dreamy, hypnotic quality, evoking a heart-opening, uplifting mood of tranquility and peace. Each track features a different vocal soloist, while the subtle instrumental layers include string quartet, piano, Indian tabla, African kora, guitars, keyboards and Adrian’s Zen shakuhachi flute as a unifying thread flowing through the whole.
These songs contain a message for our times. A space for healing, peace and reclaiming the stillness of the heart.
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Adrian Freedman Bio
Adrian Freedman plays the shakuhachi flute - a Zen instrument with ancient roots. It creates a unique and powerful sound that draws the listener into a place of intense stillness and of pure musical beauty.
Adrian lived in Kyoto, Japan for 8 years, where he studied the shakuhachi with renowned master Yokoyama Katsuya. He has performed for H.H. The Dalai Lama, and collaborated in concerts with musicians around the world, always with the focus on music for meditation and healing.
Adrian also lived for several years in Brazil where he encountered the medicine music of the forest. Arising from his musical and spiritual immersion into this world of shamanic healing rituals he has received a collection of over 180 original songs and chants, which he is now starting to record and release in a series of themed albums.
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