Beyond Skin Explained

Beyond Skin
Type:	studio
Artist:	Nitin Sawhney
Cover:	Beyondskin.jpg
Released:	13 September 1999
Genre:	Downtempo, drum and bass
Length:	58:22
Label:	Outcaste
Prev Title:	Displacing the Priest
Prev Year:	1996
Next Title:	Spirit Dance
Next Year:	1999

Beyond Skin is an album by English musician Nitin Sawhney. It was released on the Outcaste label in 1999. The album focuses largely on the theme of nuclear weapons; Sawhney states in the booklet that the album "has a timespan that runs backwards", beginning at "Broken Skin" with the India-Pakistan nuclear situation and ending at "Beyond Skin" with Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita – "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".

Sawhney also aims to question what constitutes one's identity – he writes in the liner notes for the album: "I believe in Hindu philosophy. I am not religious. I am a pacifist. I am a British Asian. My identity and my history are defined only by myself – beyond politics, beyond nationality, beyond religion, and Beyond Skin."

Reception

Beyond Skin was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[1]

Track listing

1. "Broken Skin" (Sanchita Farruque, Nitin Sawhney) – 4:05
2. "Letting Go" (C. S. Gray, Sawhney) – 4:49
3. "Homelands" (Nina Miranda, Sawhney) – 6:00
4. "The Pilgrim" (Sawhney, Spek) – 4:29
5. "Tides" (Sawhney) – 5:06
6. "Nadia" (Sawhney) – 5:05
7. "Immigrant" (Sawhney) – 6:21
8. "Serpents" (Sawhney) – 6:17
9. "Anthem Without Nation" (Sawhney) – 5:48
10. "Nostalgia" (Sawhney) – 3:41
11. "The Conference" (Sawhney) – 2:53
12. "Beyond Skin" (Sawhney) – 3:48

Notes and References

1. Book: Robert Dimery. Michael Lydon. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. 23 March 2010. Universe. 978-0-7893-2074-2.