EP Review: Aisha Badru – 'Transcendence'

In a time that is shaped by crisis after crisis, countries burning and an overwhelming uncertainty around the general state of world peace, sometimes we could all use a little breather. Cue Aisha Badru’s ‘Transcendence’ – an EP that provides a safe space to wind down and simply be. 

If ‘Transcendence’ had a colour, it would be a dark forest green, calm and grounding. How fitting that she decided to name a track after it. With dreamy, tranquil melodies, Aisha soothes the worrying mind and reinstates a sense of “everything will be alright”. 

If ‘Transcendence’ had a smell, it would be fresh sea air; the soft smell of salt on a crisp but sunny morning. Pure and clear, her voice is like a reassuring gush of wind, clearing your mind, reminding you ”[that] there will come a time when the earth will shake and the stars will align”. 

If ‘Transcendence’ had a texture, it would be the softest cotton, a cosy blanket; endlessly comforting just like Aisha’s version of a love song ‘Love doesn’t fade’. A lullaby-esque track that talks about love travelling through lifetimes. In an acoustic setting, the poetry of her songwriting is able to take center stage. Stripping a song of all additional distractions and putting the sole focus on vocals and lyrics is a genius touch, especially when they are as stunning as Aisha’s. It’s so easy to get caught up in what’s going on in the background that we forget to actually listen; when sometimes, that’s all we need to do: quiet our minds and listen. 

With this EP, Aisha Badru transcends reality, her music speaks to your heart and soul, soothes earthly pain and rebuilds faith into something bigger. She sings “travel through the universe, I think I’ll take a shot at earth again” and I have no trouble believing that that is exactly where she came from. This is an old soul spreading her wisdom in the best way she knows how, and it works.  

Words by Laura Freyaldenhoven