Why the Long-Form Psychill of Universe in Us by Vyomanaut Works
A Bangalore Producer Carries Goa Trance’s Long-Form Habit Into Ambient Psychill
At Pebble, the Jungle Lounge in Bangalore, Vyomanaut opened a February 2024 night with an ambient psychill sundowner set. Universe in Us, released on 7 November 2023, suits that same hour. It runs to seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds, and it never hurries.
Vyomanaut’s Universe in Us sits in the playlist below, among the downtempo and trip hop this desk programmes, and the project’s coverage across the network is gathered on the Vyomanaut artist profile. The single reached ElectronicMusic.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news desks. Play it from the first second, all seven and a half minutes, then read on.
The Wave Behind Universe in Us Runs From Goa Trance to the Psychill of Shpongle
The lineage starts close to home. Goa trance took shape in the Indian state of Goa in the early 1990s, and its tracks were typically long, built on gradual changes rather than sudden ones. Psychedelic trance then grew out of it and spread worldwide.
That scene soon developed a slower side. Shpongle, the English project of Simon Posford and Raja Ram, formed in 1996 and is widely seen as one of the originators of psybient. That style mixes psychedelic trance, ambient music and sounds from around the world. Their debut album, Are You Shpongled?, followed in 1998.
In practice, psychill is the music of the rest periods. It plays at sunset before the main floor starts, in the chill-out room, and at the end of a long night. As a result, the tempo drops, the grooves loosen and the tracks stretch out, because nobody in that room is waiting for a drop.
Where Vyomanaut Fits
The name sets the tone. In Sanskrit, vyoma means space, so Vyomanaut translates roughly as astronaut. It is the psychedelic project of Shreyas Bagalkot, an electronic music producer and DJ from Bangalore.
He describes his sound as lush, organic and otherworldly, with floaty melodies and crisp, groovy basslines. He is also an amateur astronomer, and he often blends spoken philosophical monologues into his productions. That combination of groove and reflection is the psychill formula in miniature.
The intent is spelled out on his own page. He wants the music to connect listeners with themselves, with nature and with the cosmos, and he roots that idea in India’s older traditions of inner peace. So a track called Universe in Us reads as that whole philosophy in three words.
Universe in Us is the second of his two singles so far. It followed Syncopated Dreams, released on 27 January 2023. At seven and a half minutes, the new track keeps the long-form habit of the Goa tradition, but it swaps the pressure of the dancefloor for space.
The live work came next. He made his live debut at Sly Granny, Rex Walk, on 21 January 2024. Two weeks later, he opened the first edition of Trance Fusion Nights at Pebble with that sundowner set. The headliner that night was Suduaya, the producer he names as his favourite. He has also played live-stream shows for Analog Filter Room and the Shamanic Frequencies Festival.
Adjacent Acts for Universe in Us, From Shpongle to Carbon Based Lifeforms
Two reference points help place the sound, with no connection implied between the artists. Shpongle represent the psychedelic root: the idea that a chill-out track can still carry the colour and movement of trance. Meanwhile, Carbon Based Lifeforms, the Swedish duo of Johannes Hedberg and Daniel Vadestrid, formed in Gothenburg in 1996, represent the ambient end, where patience is the whole point.
Universe in Us sits between those two poles. It is for listeners who come to psybient for space rather than speed, and for anyone building a sundowner or comedown playlist. It also suits the growing audience for Indian electronic music, where the Goa connection gives this sound a local history.
The best way in is to give it the full seven and a half minutes without skipping ahead. After that, go back to Syncopated Dreams to hear where the project started.
ElectronicMusic.News’s curator team: “Seven and a half minutes is long for a single, but it is the right length for this one. Psychill works by letting a groove settle before anything changes, and Universe in Us gives the listener time to arrive before it asks them to go anywhere.”
Where to Hear Universe in Us and Follow Vyomanaut
You can follow Vyomanaut across these platforms:
- Stream the single: Spotify and Apple Music
- Follow the artist: Spotify and SoundCloud
- Watch: YouTube
- Follow: Instagram and Facebook
- More: his official page, with his press kit, releases and a selection of his sets
About The Author
