Feeling the Love Infinite Divine with Harnam Singh
By Ramdesh Kaur
Have you ever felt that kind of love? The kind where you don’t recall the beginning and ending of your own heart? All that you are, and all that you’ll ever be, is lost within a love that is nothing less than infinite and divine. Harnam Singh has felt that kind of love; you can hear it in his voice.
On Love Infinite Divine, Harnam steps into the powerful source of his own creativity. This is a bold and audacious album; not only did Harnam sing and play guitar, but he wrote, produced, and recorded it all himself. He even did the cover artwork and design. It is a testament to the quality and loveliness that can come out of an artist when they decide to create without support from a label and turn instead to the Divine for all they need. Although he did it all himself, Love Infinite Divine doesn’t sound like a backyard album. There is a polish and professionalism here that comes only after a life steeped in the discipline of musical devotion. It is without a doubt a beautiful album.
The title track, Love Infinite Divine, is a stunning song. It opens with an ethereal vocalization by Nicole Zuraitis, who sounds like the Divine Feminine bringing a world into being. Harnam watches the divine manifestation in grateful awe, singing a mantra of ecstasy. Harnam’s guitar work is inspired and improvisational, and the other instruments, including a violin and a Fender Rhodes, are layered with a delicate mastery. The mantra “Waheguru Wahejio” means that God is wonderful beyond description, but Harnam ventures a humble guess; God feels like Love…Infinite, Divine.
On No Stranger, Harnam sings a gospel song for the new age. You’ll find yourself dancing along with it by its end. It’s like a yogi anthem. “I see no stranger!” he declares, opening his eyes and heart to the truth that we are all one with an irresistible energy and enthusiasm. Ancient mantras of unity are woven with English affirmations and Yogi Bhajan quotes like, “If you can’t see God in all, then you can’t see God at all.” It’s infectious and wickedly (well, sacredly) fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously (the hand claps are so groovy!) and ends up being a rare splash of spunk in what is an otherwise very introspective and serious genre. Despite its lightheartedness, the message is there and it’s neither cliché or lost in playfulness…you’ll feel the Oneness, loud and clear.
The third track, I Don’t Mind, is a gentle and loving cure for heartbreak. In this poetic song of English lyrics combined with Gurmukhi mantra, Harnam’s voice is full of wisdom and guidance, calling in the sacred energy of Guru Ram Das. There’s no sanctimonious lecturing about how things will be fine here. You can sense that Harnam has seen his share of pain and found a way, through the energy of the sacred sound current and the love of Guru Ram Das, to rise above it. His intimate vocals carry the energy of the lyrics to a place of authenticity and sincerity. When he sings, “there’s a wisdom that comes as a servant of the Infinite Divine”, it’s without a trace of smug self-satisfaction. Rather, his heart is open and bare, offering a path out of pain and into love through the wisdom and grace of a true Guru.
