Beyond Skin
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox album|
| name = Beyond Skin
| type = studio
| artist = Nitin Sawhney
| cover = Beyondskin.jpg
| alt =
| released = 13 September 1999
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Downtempo, drum and bass
| length = 58:22
| label = Outcaste
| producer =
| prev_title = Displacing the Priest
| prev_year = 1996
| next_title = Spirit Dance
| next_year = 1999
}}
Beyond Skin is an album by English musician Nitin Sawhney. It was released on the Outcaste label in 1999. The album focuses largely on the theme of nuclear weapons; Sawhney states in the booklet that the album "has a timespan that runs backwards", beginning at "Broken Skin" with the India-Pakistan nuclear situation and ending at "Beyond Skin" with Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita — "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".
Sawhney also aims to question what constitutes one's identity — he writes in the liner notes for the album: "I believe in Hindu philosophy. I am not religious. I am a pacifist. I am a British Asian. My identity and my history are defined only by myself – beyond politics, beyond nationality, beyond religion, and Beyond Skin."
Reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/beyond-skin-mw0000459871|title=Beyond Skin – Nitin Sawhney|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=28 March 2020|last=DiGravina|first=Tim}}
| rev2 = The Guardian
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|title=Nitin Sawhney: Beyond Skin (Outcaste)|work=The Guardian|date=17 September 1999|last=Sullivan|first=Caroline}}
| rev3 = The Independent
| rev3Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/pop-album-reviews-1108427.html|title=Pop: Album Reviews|work=The Independent|date=24 July 1999|access-date=28 March 2020|last=Perry|first=Tim}}
| rev4 = Muzik
| rev4Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Nitin Sawhney: Beyond Skin (Outcaste)|magazine=Muzik|issue=52|date=September 1999|last=Da Bank|first=Rob|author-link=Rob da Bank|page=81}}
| rev5 = NME
| rev5Score = 8/10{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19991007115848.html|title=Nitin Sawhney – Beyond Skin|work=NME|date=7 October 1999|access-date=28 March 2020|last=Chick|first=Stevie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000609015535/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19991007115848.html|archive-date=9 June 2000|url-status=dead}}
}}
Beyond Skin was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.{{cite book|author1=Robert Dimery|author2=Michael Lydon|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition|date=23 March 2010|publisher=Universe|isbn=978-0-7893-2074-2}}
Track listing
- "Broken Skin" (Sanchita Farruque, Nitin Sawhney) – 4:05
- "Letting Go" (C. S. Gray, Sawhney) – 4:49
- "Homelands" (Nina Miranda, Sawhney) – 6:00
- "The Pilgrim" (Sawhney, Spek) – 4:29
- "Tides" (Sawhney) – 5:06
- "Nadia" (Sawhney) – 5:05
- "Immigrant" (Sawhney) – 6:21
- "Serpents" (Sawhney) – 6:17
- "Anthem Without Nation" (Sawhney) – 5:48
- "Nostalgia" (Sawhney) – 3:41
- "The Conference" (Sawhney) – 2:53
- "Beyond Skin" (Sawhney) – 3:48
Charts
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Chart performance for Beyond Skin ! scope="col"| Chart (1999) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| {{album chart|UK2|44|date=19990919|rowheader=true|access-date=14 September 2022}} |