United Reggae premieres the video for Prosperity in Day to Day Life, the first single off renowned Swedish drummer Bosse Skoglund and veteran Swedish musician Johan “ZilverZurf” Zachrisson’s new double album Mantra Sessions, a set where Indian mantras meet dub, reggae and jazz.

Prosperity in Day to Day Life is a six minute long slow and meditative reggae journey underpinned by horns and hypnotic tambourines. It has a repetitive chanted mantra and comes with ethereal horn solos, percussion and guitar licks. The chanted chorus is sneaky, infectious and sticks like glue.

The album Mantra Sessions – which drops on January 29 – is in the same vein, but slightly more experimental, and is put out as a vocal version with a dub counterpart mixed by Swedish producer and mixing engineer extraordinaire Jonahgold, who has on several previous releases mixed Indian spiritual chants with reggae.

“I always had a deep interest and love for the simple and basic music. One note, one riff, one key based on a drone that just keeps going on and on. After many years of travelling and playing in India, the mantras will always stay in my heart. Everywhere you can hear some mantra in the distance, from morning till noon, sometimes several different ones from temples, shops or tea-stalls. These days they all come blasting away from the mantra-machines available all over India,” explains Johan “ZilverZurf” Zachrisson in a press release.

The process of the album started a few years ago when Johan Zachrisson gave Bosse Skoglund a mantra machine and both delved into the repetitive sounds. The actual recordings started in August last year and according to Johan Zachrisson it didn’t take long for the duo to find the right drum grooves and bass lines. They let the mantras play for a few minutes with the same melody and riff not really knowing what to expect. From there on they went with the flow and listened back to the recordings and improvised from there. They invited friends to sing and to add percussion, flutes, horns, keyboard and guitar.

“It all fell very well into place without rehearsals or preparations,” says Johan Zachrisson, and adds:

“This is music that we love and we hope that all can enjoy the album and return to it again and again. Just as we do.”

Bosse Skoglund is one of Sweden’s most accomplished drummers. During the early 50s he played his first shows and has since played with several big names within jazz. Later he took an interest in reggae and roots music and played with Swedish reggae legend Peps Persson from the 70s and onwards.

Johan Zachrisson is a well-known Swedish musician and composer. He has played with Dag Vag since the 70s and today he also has his own band Zilverzurf & His Space Cadets.