Album Review - Feathered Creatures by Mark Lettieri and Purbayan Chatterjee
A Unique Collaboration
Snarky Puppy guitarist Mark Lettieri and legendary sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee have released their debut collaborative album Feathered Creatures, out today. In the works for several years, the amazing nine-track record marks a blending of two incredibly unique musicians by way of progressive rock, electronic dance grooves, psytrance, traditional Indian music, and more.
I had the opportunity to sit down with both Lettieri and Chatterjee ahead of the album’s release to dive into their musical history, how Feathered Creatures came to be, and to look ahead to their future plans as a duo.
The two musicians first connected when Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League invited Chatterjee to sit in with the band while they were touring India in late 2023. Lettieri was instantly blown away by the playing – having never heard a sitar with such a rock and roll tone to it before, he cornered Chatterjee in the green room after and the two instantly bonded. The only task – find the right way to collaborate.
Chatterjee had already been working on songs for what would become Feathered Creatures when he reached out to League to play some bass on the record. League almost immediately was drawn to the production and bass that was already on the tracks, but suggested the addition of some guitars – and Lettieri was top of mind for Chatterjee. As the guitarist began recording and the two emailed back and forth, the process became more collaborative as some of the songs took more influence and changes from Lettieri. Eventually, it became a full-blown co-write.
Keyboardist and frequent Chatterjee collaborator Nakul Chugh handled production and programming, taking Lettieri’s tracks on guitar, bass, and synthesizer and sculpting them alongside what had already been recorded. The result was an exploratory creative process born out of Chatterjee’s yearning for experimentation and Lettieri’s heavy draw on influence from Dream Theater.
“Rise Enshrined” opens the album with some very traditional-sounding sitar riffs – which are immediately offset by the trancelike and electronic-influenced groove of the song. Based on an Indian raga called Basant Mukhari, the song’s name comes from the time of day it’s meant to be performed. Chatterjee notes that “At a certain point in the groove, you’ll feel that it’s a little like a glitch in the matrix - it feels like a four-four till it doesn’t.” Lettieri’s sharp-edged play navigates the odd eight-and-a-half measure in a really cool way – he notes that he pictures a guy holding a drink in the crowd at one of their shows trying to dance to it and getting thrown off.
Next up is “Shallow Water Blackout,” immediately sounding right at home in the Lettieri canon with some blisteringly fast play and pounding drum work. Chatterjee’s intent was to play in the style of a legendary Indian vocal performance titled “Breathless,” where the singer doesn’t stop to draw a breath through the entire song. “When I recorded it, I took the whole thing,” he notes, “I had a template for it, but I was composing it as I played on that template, going bar to bar, bar to bar. And I played it straight through, set up a structure, and then just went for it.”
“Bridges” was the last song recorded for the album and fills the role of a more organic groove, dominated by Lettieri’s dreamlike acoustic guitar playing. “This one’s neat because we can play it live as a duo if we need to,” says Lettieri. “It’s kind of a folk-y arrangement which is also a really stark contrast to the previous track, and a cool aspect that came about as the record was coming together.” With the original intention of being totally dominated by psytrance, the slower and introspective nature of “Bridges” came about once Lettieri began to add his touch and distinctive style in the writing process.
The distance between Lettieri’s hometown of Fort Worth, Texas and Mumbai is approximately “9,000 Miles,” inspiring the title for the next track. Released as the album’s second single, its off-kilter time signature of 15/8 lends a really cool quality to Lettieri’s solo, both musicians agree that this and “Hibiscus” really encapsulate what Feathered Creatures is all about.
“Sarode Sevens” features Pratik Shrivastava on sarod, another traditional Indian instrument. The melody is a collaboration between him, Chatterjee, and producer Chugh – Chatterjee notes that “we wanted to have a song where the sitar and sarod could play off of each other, some interesting arpeggios and interplay during the solos.” Minimally produced compared to some of the other tracks, it still retains a distinctively upbeat and dancey element.
The album continues with “Hibiscus,” named for the colour of Lettieri’s signature PRS Fiore guitar he used to record this song. In 11/8 time, it revolves around some layered and harmonized guitars. Featuring table maestro Satyajit Talwalkar, Chatterjee’s goal was to use the percussion instrument almost like a bass. “It’s like a refrain that repeats again and again – that was the core essence of the melody of the song.” Lettieri notes that this song is particularly indicative of the duo’s individual influences. “One of the things that I brought to it is the bridge, which is almost a Motown groove – very 70s R&B.”
Of lead single “Soar,” Lettieri notes that it’s kind of like the theme song to the album. “It’s a simple four-four, like it’s peppy, uptempo, and happy.” The song’s name comes from a a family trip Lettieri took to Disney World, where he went on a ride by the same name. With some very cool background synthesizer layering, Lettieri really shines through with his distinctive style and some trademark riffs that could have been lifted right from his last album Can I Tell You Something?. “It’s the point in the show where the guy with the drink can relax a little bit,” jokes Lettieri.
Title track “Feathered Creatures” takes things in a more pop-house direction and is based on another Indian raga called Hamsadhwani – meaning white swan. “When Mark and I started to have discussions about the album in a big-picture perspective, this stuck out as something poppish, fun, and easy to listen to,” says Chatterjee, “and it ended up being the inspiration for the name.” Lettieri’s role is much more in a typical session style here, featuring some great disco-funk rhythm guitar that is his signature style.
“ZH” closes out the record as a tribute to Zakir Hussain, a calmer track inspired by those who brought Indian music into greater focus on the world stage. It’s dense, atmospheric, and lets you down more gently after some of the more heart-racing sounds in many of the other songs.
This remarkable album is far from the only time Chatterjee and Lettieri plan to play these songs together – the duo is working on a variety of live performance styles, from just them with backing tracks to a full octet big-band. Watch for announcements of new dates soon, because as this musical partnership continues to grow, this is going to become a highly sought-after live performance.
Stream Feathered Creatures now wherever you get your music.