After his previous debut album, innovative composer Suraaj Parab continues to experiment with the world of contemporary classical music.
The album comes from a deep and heartfelt emotional drive. As Suraaj explains, “I dedicated this album to my beloved sister Purva, a loving soul who made a journey to a wonderful place, and to all our loved ones who are very close to us, yet very far from us.”
The experimentation that Suraaj showcases is really wide. This album constantly plays on a delicate and remarkable balance, allowing itself on several occasions subtle incursions into the territory of New age. The almost imperceptible movements that manifest in the various passages are like gentle finishing touches on a painting, applied by a master who knows where to add the right brushstroke to bring the whole work to an even higher level than it already was.
And the eight tracks that make up the album are studded with them. Almost never glaring, but always tremendously effective, sometimes they are simple tonal changes in the modulation of the same piano chord. Other times, they are roaring waves of reverberating percussion walls that echo in the distance.
It is impossible not to underline the minimal subtractive constructions, which instead of stratifying sounds on sounds, reduce the number of instruments being played, note after note, as if to direct the musical message towards its deepest, if not even ancestral, root.
This compositional richness denotes great ability on the part of Suraaj, who masters the whole spectrum of orchestral instruments: not only the piano, which certainly is the main instrument that emerges from the album, but also the strings, the brass, the woodwinds.
Listening to the songs is like seeing a series of frames slide in front of your eyes while Suraaj paints moments and stories of real-life inside them.
So Close So Far is a deeply descriptive album, in which Suraaj paints moving pictures depicting real-life experiences, full of nostalgia and emotions from which he liberally drew inspiration.
It is not a coincidence, therefore, that it is precisely the title track, the one that closes the album, that represents its peak and at the same time its excellent sum.
With over 4 minutes of piano solo, Suraaj gives us an amazing performance, focused on arpeggios and ostinatos that intertwine and provide a touching listening experience, which at the same time is poignant and rewarding.
When we read a book, we don’t just care about recognizing and identifying single letters and words. Rather, we read it to understand its meaning as a whole.
Similarly, the music of “So Close So Far” was written to be listened to with focus, to be understood, not merely heard in passing.
32 minutes of incomparable music, which, if we have the care to understand it to its full extent, will give us exquisitely unique emotions. 
- .: Nova MUSIC blog // October 2019
Listen now to So Close So Far, the Album by Suraaj Parab, available in streaming on all major digital platforms.
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