Anoushka Shankar on her latest mini album, the power of collaboration, and forging her own path

Anoushka Shankar’s latest album, Chapter 1: Forever, For Now, released on October 23, during the week she began her United States tour. It comprises four new tracks that make up the first chapter in a trilogy that she will be writing and releasing as an evolving story between tours.

An acclaimed sitar player, producer, film composer and activist, Anoushka followed in the footsteps of her father, the legendary musician Pandit Ravishankar, when she debuted on stage at the age of 13.

While the comparisons may never end, especially since she learned to play in her father’s style, Anoushka’ music has, over the years, found a voice of its own.

Forever, For Now begins with Daydreaming, a track that echoes the popular Carnatic lullaby Madhava Mamava, in Neelambari raga, which she had heard from her mother and her grandmother as a child.

The lullaby came back to her last summer when she was in the garden with her two sons and strumming the sitar. When one of her sons got tired and lay down on her lap, she rediscovered this melody from her childhood and he fell asleep.

“I have always loved this lullaby, but when we hear it performed in a Carnatic context, it’s a bit more dynamic and progressive. I really wanted to pull out that lullaby’s peaceful quality, which was a feeling I wanted across the album,” Anoushka tells YS Life.

She says being a mother has also influenced her music.

“The kind of music I’d been listening to during the pandemic gave me solace. I had a lot of hardcore parenting to do during that period. I could connect it to a place of tenderness and strength where strength doesn’t have to be hard, and tenderness does not have to be weak, but could be incredibly strong. I feel really connected to that quality as a mother, and there’s no question that it really influenced this whole trip,” she says.

The sitarist also reveals that motherhood has affected her since it first happened. Her first album, after she had her first baby, was Traveller, with songs that “felt like having a child dancing inside me.”

“With my second child and seeing the refugee crisis unfold for other families in front of my eyes, I realised I was privileged enough to have the safety of home and comfort,” she adds.

The entire mini album, Anoushka sums up, has two main influences: one, as a human through parenting, and two, through life and other experiences.

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She elaborates: “In 2022, there was this strange energy in the air when everyone frantically snapped back from the pandemic, and everything was back to business. But I didn’t feel everyone was okay–it felt like everyone was walking around still in shock, moving through the motions of a life they used to live before.”

“I was trying to tap into the feeling of the lessons learnt and I felt that we were forgetting what happened … And that led to the track, What Will We Remember (another track in the album)–that spoke of solidarity and connecting with neighbours and kindness before it all changes,” she adds.

The Stolen Moments track from the album is a haunting melody, while Sleeping Flowers is transient with a fluid pace.

Anuoushka feels there’s a mix of optimism and sadness in the music and the title Forever, For Now exemplifies that if we can’t do it all the time–be kind and connect with others–we could always change for a moment and connect.

The mini album has been produced by Pakistani musician and composer Arooj Aftab and has guest appearances by Nils Frahm (who plays piano, glass harmonica, harmonium, slit drum), Gal Maestro (bass) and Magda Giannikou (accordion). Anoushka had previously collaborated with Aftab on Udhero Na, from the deluxe edition of his ‘Vulture Prince’ album.

On her collaboration with Aftab, she says, “She is an incredible singer and composer and I knew she would be a great producer because, like me, she’s been producing her own work. She has been listening to my music since she was very young and after we had done one song together, it felt natural to ask if she wanted to produce this album.”

Anoushka is a great advocate of collaboration and says it’s one of her favourite things to do.

“I love co-writing and it’s a parallel to being alive on stage with musicians when you are playing. Collaborating feels the same when you are composing. And, it’s just much more fun than working alone. If someone’s producing or guiding me, and I’m the composer, their influence will still be there. If we are co-writing, the music will be the sum of both of us, or more of us. There's learning each time I work with someone different.”

Anoushka is all set to perform in India as part of the ‘Anoushka Shankar Live’ tour starting from January 24, across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi.

How has it been for her to forge her own path? She says the journey has been both difficult and natural.

“I came into music through my father, learning from him and playing his style. Slowly, I began to compose and started finding my own voice. His musical identity will always be within mine, but I can never be him, and I don’t want to be him,” she says.

Anoushka is thankful to have not fallen into the trap of proving to other people that she was a person worthy of her father’s legacy.

“It all comes down to: ‘What is my soul saying? What is my musical dream?’ I know he would want me to be happy. I try to ignore all the external noise and stay focused on my own path,” she explains.