Purbayan Chatterjee and Mark Lettieri’s “Hibiscus” is a deeply evocative sonic exploration

Five-time GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist, composer, and producer Mark Lettieri best known for Snarky Puppy has teamed up with acclaimed Indian sitarists Purbayan Chatterjee for an expansive, explorative and transformative new album. Entitled Feathered Creatures, the nine track musical journey fusing Indian classical with Jazz and progressive rock for an unexpected and seductive listen.

The dynamic cross-cultural collaboration features the highlighted track “Hibiscus”. The single moves fluidly between IDM-influenced breakbeat tension, progressive rock grandeur, and the meditative depth of Indian classical music. Built on a traditional lehra in an 11-beat cycle and rooted in Raga Yaman, it opens with trance-like sitar repetition before Lettieri's electric guitar textures gradually reshape the harmonic landscape. It's a deeply moving tribute to the late Ustad Zakir Hussain, and a showcase of how tradition and experimentation can coexist beautifully. Chatterjee describes it as "a broader, global harmonic conversation", and the listener can expect just that. “Hibiscus” is dreamy and whimsical, taking us all on a journey filled with musical twists and turns.

The duo create bold and beautiful music that is surprisingly accessible for how adventurous it is. It's a rare fusion. Lettieri shares, “I want to do as many cool things creatively as my creative life force balance will allow,” and Feathered Creatures delivers on that promise in full. Surrender to the music's shifting rhythms and interwoven textures, and be deeply rewarded.