“No matter the language or the content, Ganavya’s voice is a thick ephemera, like smoke as dark as ink, just coming off the fire.”
—New York Times
Described by Wall Street Journal as “among modern music’s most compelling vocalists,” NYC-born, Tamil Nadu-raised, ganavya moves as a sonic shapeshifter. A vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and unabashed wanderer, she wields a voice that’s equal parts lullaby and lightning bolt, drawing from a deep well of spiritual blueprints passed through generations. Raised on pilgrimage trails with soundtracks of harikathā, she turned her childhood of storytelling into a life of fluid creation.
Her latest album, Nilam follows last year’s Daughter Of A Temple, which was recognized as one of 2024’s Top 10 Best Global Albums by The Guardian, who praised ganavya’s ability to harness “the power of communal harmony to touch something deeper than song.” Co-produced by Nils Frahm at LEITER Studio in Berlin’s Funkhaus complex, the new album by “the singer whose work,” according to the New York Times, “feels like prayer…with listeners hanging onto her every word,” is out on vinyl and all digital platforms.
Nilam owes its existence to chance, after a few unplanned days between her sold-out 2024 debut in Berlin and her show at London’s Union Chapel made time in the studio unexpectedly possible. Listening to the remarkable collection, it seems implausible now that its inception might ever have been in doubt. So astonishing is its stillness, so profound its communication of sentiment, it feels as if it was always meant to be. ganavya’s vocals, deeply personal and resonant, convey both stillness and movement, offering a quiet, tender expression of gratitude and connection. With songs that have evolved over years of live performance, ‘Nilam’ is a reflection on the rhythms of life and the importance of finding a place to stand.
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