Released in 1993, Australian Sikh Rhythm and Soul was the debut album of Sikh musician Dya Singh and his World Music Group, an ensemble founded in Adelaide.

Born in Malaysia and educated in the UK before moving to Australia, Singh draws from his complex multicultural identity to shape the group's unique transnational sound. The album’s opening track, 'Mool Mantr (Primordial Incantation of the Sikhs)', demonstrates the blend of traditional Sikh devotionals with a striking range of global influences, encompassing jazz, blues, Middle Eastern stylings and Western classical music. Opening and closing with the didgeridoo, it layers a distinctly Australian sound over verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism’s sacred text. Singh recites the words in English translation, inviting wider audiences into the music's spiritual underpinnings.

This approach aligned the group with the emerging global genre of 'New World Music,' where traditional melodies were reframed through cross-cultural instrumentation or electronic soundscapes.

The album grew directly out of the ensemble’s acclaimed appearance at the inaugural WOMADelaide festival in 1992, a landmark event that helped establish Adelaide as a hub for world music. This excerpt not only captures the group’s innovative spirit but also highlights the growing role of multicultural and diasporic voices in shaping Australia’s world music scene in the early 1990s.