Haider Uppal & Lost Boy – 1 To Oneness

Haider Uppal opens ‘1 To Oneness’, his collaborative EP with Lost Boy, with a tribute to Ravi Shankar, India’s best-known sitarist. Shankar’s pining strings simmer beneath blooming pads, energetic kicks, and the faintest heartbeat of a dhol on ‘mughal house’, a beautiful though slightly too-familiar approach that sets the tone for the record’s intent — weaving the sounds of a shared South Asian heritage into the dreamy brand of house the producers are best known for. While the EP feels at times heavy handed with the East-meets-West tropes, Uppal and Lost Boy’s craftsmanship is undeniable. These tracks are luscious, layered, and complex — ‘Teiseen’, in particular, blossoms in space — making this contemplation on diasporic dichotomy sonically rich, even when lacking in bite.