Mala 2024 Remaster arrived on June 7, 2024, a seven-track reissue in a catalogue that spans more than two decades of singing, teaching and ritual leadership. Suzanne Sterling is a singer, musician, ritual leader and activist, and her recorded work is one strand of a practice that also includes kirtan leading, workshops and the Voice of Change Method. The "2024 Remaster" label signals a revisit of earlier material. It appears alongside Japa 2024 Remaster, and the pairing suggests a deliberate return to the mantra-centered core of her work. The record available to me does not say who handled the remastering or what changed, so the best approach is to listen for what the title promises: a mala, the string of beads used to count repetitions, and the practice of staying with a sound.
Sterling's sound is built around the human voice, mantra and rhythm rather than dense orchestration. Her singing voice is the central instrument, and the production exists to support chant and breath rather than compete with them. Expect pacing that favors repetition: a phrase returns, a melody settles, and you are invited to stay with it rather than wait for a climax.
That is the album's mood, and it is a particular kind of patience. The communal, conversational texture of kirtan, with its call-and-response, is her signature format, though I can't say from the available facts how much of Mala is group singing versus solo voice. If you want fast tempos or layered electronic arrangements, this will feel spare and slow-moving. If you want a recording that behaves like a practice, with a steady beat to count against, that sparseness is the point.
I can't responsibly name individual songs here. The facts I have confirm that the album has seven tracks, but they do not list the titles, and inventing them would defeat the purpose of a listening guide. So instead of signature tracks, here is how to find them yourself on a first pass:
- The opening track. On a repetition-based record, the first piece teaches you the grammar. Notice how the phrase is introduced, how quickly the voice settles, and whether the rhythm arrives immediately or builds.
- The middle of the sequence. Seven tracks give the album a compact shape. Listen for where the energy lifts slightly and where it drops, since subtle shifts matter more than dramatic peaks here.
- The closing track. Notice how the album lets go. Does it fade, resolve or simply stop? That exit often reveals the intended use, whether meditation, practice or ritual.
Previewing the album on Spotify and noting the titles that land for you is the sensible next step.
Sterling's work sits primarily within bhakti, the Indian devotional path in which song and repeated sacred names become a direct route to the divine. Kirtan is the most visible expression of that, and japa, the quiet repetition of a mantra, is its more inward cousin. An album called Mala, released alongside Japa, speaks to that second mode.
A second strand runs beside it. Sterling has worked with the International Reclaiming Community for more than 25 years, co-creating public ritual and training teachers in earth-based spirituality. Her lineage is better read as a set of practices than a single guru line, and the record names no specific teachers she trained under. Anyone expecting a strictly orthodox South Asian presentation may find her framing eclectic. Within her own catalogue, Mala sits nearer the chant-and-repetition end than the dub-influenced Dub Mantra Sangha or the ambient Chakra Flow.
This album is for the listener who wants music tied to practice. It suits someone who already sits with a mantra or is curious to begin, and who values steadiness over spectacle. It lands in life moments that call for grounding: a transition, a stretch of grief or overwork, a morning or evening routine you are trying to build.
It is less suited to listeners who want high-energy electronic music, polished pop hooks or a concert arc with clear peaks. Those who are skeptical of devotional or ritual frames will also find the spiritual language central rather than decorative. And if you want a purely recorded experience, know that Sterling's work is at its fullest in community practice, with live kirtan and workshops as the natural next step.
Give it a full, uninterrupted sitting, ideally in the evening, when the day's noise has settled. Headphones help you hear the voice up close, since it is the heart of the record. Start by simply listening for the first few minutes, then let yourself hum or sing along softly as the phrases return. If you own a mala, hold it and move a bead with each repetition, which turns the album into the practice its title describes.
Listen once straight through without skipping, then return to it as a companion for seated meditation. Because the record is built on return and repetition, it tends to reveal more the second and third time through.
