With “Watch the Sunrise”, UK-based avant-garde duo Tian Qiyi (brothers John Tian Qi Wardle and Charlie Tian Yi Wardle) unveil a luminous prelude to their upcoming sophomore album “Songs For Workers”, melding ancient musical traditions with a contemporary dub-driven pulse. The track is a dazzling exercise in genre fusion, harmonizing Eastern and Western soundscapes with remarkable finesse. Anchored by a meditative yet propulsive rhythm, the song unfurls gradually, drawing listeners into a transcendent sound world. Charlie Tian Yi Wardle’s masterful command of bowed instruments from China and Mongolia introduces a rich, layered texture that evokes the vast landscapes of Central and East Asia, yet somehow feels intimate and immediate. His ethereal, elastic vocal delivery floats above the instrumentation with a spectral presence, at once grounded and otherworldly. The production—handled entirely in-house—balances deep dub grooves, ambient psychedelia, and folk motifs with subtlety and precision. Legendary bassist Jah Wobble’s influence is unmistakable, offering a subterranean bassline that anchors the composition without overpowering its more delicate, melodic elements. The choice to forego conventional song structures on most of the album makes “Watch the Sunrise” a standout: its defined verses and chorus provide a sense of emotional narrative without compromising the band’s esoteric tendencies. Lyrically, the track is steeped in spiritual contemplation, using the metaphor of daybreak to explore Buddhist dualities: light and dark, self and non-self. It’s poetic and philosophical, a rare marriage of musical innovation and intellectual depth. “Watch the Sunrise” is a journey. And Tian Qiyi are holding the compass!
♦ 8/10
Dimitris Zacharopoulos
