A Spotlight on Anoushka Shankar: Chapter I and II

‘Three chapters, three geographies,’ Anoushka Shankar scribbled in a diary at a café in Goa on New Year’s Day two years ago, manifesting an ambitious trilogy that she hoped would span multiple geographies with nods to her roots, across continents and collaborators...

The acclaimed sitar player, producer and composer is now ready to share the third and final instalment of a series of mini-albums she began in October 2023.

"Chapter III: We Return To Light" will be released in March 2025, supported initially by an extensive tour of North America with further territories later in the year. 

As a countdown to the third and final chapter, come with us on a dive into the story of the series by shining a spotlight on the first two chapters:

Chapter I: Forever, For Now

Recorded at Berlin’s celebrated Funkhaus complex, the four tracks make up the first chapter in Shankar’s trilogy of mini-albums. Featuring guest appearances by Nils Frahm (piano, glass harmonica, harmonium, slit drum), Gal Maestro (bass) and Magda Giannikou (accordion). 'Forever, For Now' is produced by praised Grammy-decorated singer and composer Arooj Aftab, with whom Shankar had previously collaborated on ‘Udhero Na’, from the deluxe edition of Aftab’s ‘Vulture Prince’ album.

'Forever, For Now's dominant mood is set by the bewitching stillness of the opening ‘Daydreaming (featuring Nils Frahm)’, a fresh take on a traditional Karnatik lullaby. “I remember my mother and grandmother singing it to me as a child,” Shankar reminisces, “and one day last summer, while I was in the garden with my two sons and my sitar, I was strumming when one of my sons got tired and lay down in my lap. As I started finding this melody from my childhood, he fell asleep, and I remember trying to savour the beauty of the moment. This song is a snapshot of afternoon sun through leaves, roses in bloom, a child dozing on his mother's lap, the preciousness of a single moment fully lived and witnessed. This whole chapter, in fact, is about that feeling, being completely in the fullness and transience of a single moment, coming to forever – for now.”

Chapter II: How Dark it Is Before Dawn

‘Chapter II: How Dark it Is Before Dawn’ was recorded during sessions with British producer and composer Peter Raeburn in his two Soundtree Studios, firstly in May, 2023 in LA, where Shankar had just performed her father Ravi’s Sitar Concerto No. 3 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

The second session was recorded in in London in September, 2023 before she set out on her North American tour. It finds Shankar expanding her horizons, both artistically and sonically, exploring a mesmeric, at times almost ambient soundscape.

The album was released in April of 2024, earning her a GRAMMY nomination in the category “Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album” at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards.