Six-time Grammy® Award-nominated sitarist, composer and producer Anoushka Shankar announces the release of two new singles ‘Bright Eyes’ and ‘In This Mouth’, featuring singer-songwriter Alev Lenz. Anoushka also shares the exquisite new music video for ‘Bright Eyes’, out 29th November on Mercury KX. She will then close the year with sold-out performances at London’s Southbank Centre on 3rd – 5th December as part of the Purcell Sessions series.
This new music marks a different direction for Anoushka, a shift in intimacy and content, which comes at a pivotal point in her career as she signs to her new record label, Mercury KX. Hailed by the Guardian as a “virtuoso sitar player”, Anoushka truly pushes the boundaries of how the sitar is heard and perceived. Featuring striking vocals from German-Turkish singer-songwriter, composer and producer Alev Lenz, ‘Bright Eyes’ is a harrowing recollection of heartbreak and loss, whilst ‘In This Mouth’ is a moving meditation on desire.
Speaking of the tracks, Anoushka says:
“’Bright Eyes’ was initially written a couple of years ago at a very raw and painful time in my life. Musically, I love how on one level it’s a straightforward love song, but the instrumentation belies the form and involves sitar and ghatam along with piano and upright bass.
It has been incredibly nurturing getting to work with Alev. This was a truly ego-free collaboration involving friendship, shared life experiences, and creative sessions squeezed in between school runs over many cups of tea. Alev is a gorgeous singer with an unusual voice, plus she’s a very encouraging co-writer and co-producer.
‘In This Mouth’ is a song very close to my heart. It’s a love letter, a poem, a beckoning, a prayer. In the middle of the song Alev and I move away from her lead vocal rhythm and go into a Vedic chant-style melodic refrain, turning earthy desire into something exalted and holy.”