Joi Barua’s 'Star Among the Cosmic Clouds' blends love, memory and cosmic wonder

Highlights

• Joi Barua channels personal grief into a cosmic composition
• The song is part of the expansive Cosmic Rhapsody project
• Collaboration spans continents, blending science, emotion and sound

A song shaped by loss and imagination

When Joi Barua received the lyrics for Star Among the Cosmic Clouds, he was mourning the loss of his father. Alone in his childhood home in Jorhat, Assam, he found himself interpreting the story of Lavi, a purple alpaca who sacrifices herself to ignite a magical orb, through the lens of memory and emotion.

“My father was also like a guiding light,” Barua shared. “Though the story was conceived so well, it was written from a dual emotion—loss and return.”

The song became a way to honour his father’s life and spirit, transforming grief into melody. Dr Susan Lim and Christina Teenz Tan’s lyrics offered Barua a portal through which he could reframe his sorrow. “Susan handed me my escape,” he said. “She gave me a spaceship to fly into the universe I wanted to.”

Cosmic rhapsody and the power of collaboration

Star Among the Cosmic Clouds is the first single from the pop album within Cosmic Rhapsody, a multi-part artistic venture that includes orchestral recordings, animated storytelling and genre-blending music.

The project explores humanity’s journey into space and the philosophical questions of identity and consciousness. It features three versions of the song: Barua’s composer’s cut, a studio recording by Killian Donnelly, and a grand orchestral rendition with Tom Ball and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Barua, who describes himself as an untrained musician, expressed deep gratitude for the experience. “I was in a room full of people sincerely trying to work on my song,” he said. “It was like serendipity of another kind.”

The collaboration began in 2015 at an INK conference in Singapore, where Barua met Dr Lim. What started as a conversation over coffee evolved into a global creative partnership.

Music memory and the meaning of identity

Barua hopes listeners will take away a deeper understanding of loss—not as an end, but as a transformation. “Beyond loss is responsibility,” he said. “To live up to the love you received.”

As an Indian artist working on an international stage, Barua sees his identity as something organic. “Every artist who’s Indian is that identity,” he said. “I bring my consciousness into it, trained by my upbringing and my land.”

Looking ahead, Barua hinted at future symphonic performances of Cosmic Rhapsody around the world. With 17 songs in the album and a growing international team, the project continues to evolve.

When asked to sum up the experience in three words, Barua simply said: “Thank you God.”