Music out of the box

Her debut album recently launched in the US to mixed reviews, but Anoushka Shankar is taking it all in the right spirit.

In between finishing odd chores at home, I find myself listening to a sample selection of a CD which has been created as part of a media kit by Saregama. It's called Breathing Under Water, a production by well-known musicians Anoushka Shankar and Karsh Kale, which will be launched in India by Saregama.

While that'll take some time, in the US, where it was released some months ago, the response has been both overwhelming and scathing. There's not much one can make out from just minute-long song samples but yes, somehow, most of them sound comforting and melodious.

Which is why I find myself going through some online reviews of the album to get a better idea. There's one in particular that catches my eye; it's from a music-based website, The Music Box, and describes Breathing Under Water as a "half-baked effort", an album in which Shankar finds herself in a difficult position.

"Her musical choices," continues the critic, "demonstrate that she isn't completely satisfied with being a classical musician like her father. Yet, her training and upbringing haven't allowed her to completely let go and embrace becoming a populist musician in the manner of her more famous sister."

How does Shankar respond to this review, especially since it took her and Kale almost two years before the album was ready to hit the market?

"Makes me want to take some psychiatry lessons," she says mockingly, adding seriously, "It is one of the more constructive reviews that I've read. I don't agree with everything but I suppose that's alright." She's shrugging her shoulders as she says this and plucks an orchid, part of a beautiful flower setting on the table.

Kale, a well-known name on the contemporary global music circuit, chips in: "This album has helped us grow hugely and that's something only we both know. Every aspect of writing these compositions, of collaborating with singers from different parts of the world, of understanding what exactly we wanted from every song, helped us immensely."

The two have been friends for a long time and Shankar is grateful that Breathing Under Water exposed her to the Western chord structure, musicians and string orchestra. "That's something I haven't really done before."

In fact, none of the two musicians consciously sought out to produce this album. "We both had our work, live shows, and even albums charted out but somehow we got talking, our vision matched and soon we were producing an album," says Kale. Shankar laughs, "Yes, our vision matched and soon we were sharing a flat between us, and also the bills between us."

What's also interesting is that the album was recorded in different parts of the world. "New York, Israel, Mumbai, we found ourselves recording in nine different sound studios in different parts of the world and, needless to say, travel is an important aspect in our album," says Kale, while Shankar, looking radiant in red, listens on.

She almost senses my next question and while we had already been warned not to bring up questions related to the family, Shankar tells me that despite coming from a musical lineage, she is seeking her own personal space and hopes to have taken some baby steps in the direction with this album.

"I don't know where I want to reach musically but yes, I do want to continue in my efforts of doing something completely out-of-the-box," she says.

What she found particularly difficult this time though was finally letting go of the album when it was all set for a release.

"Composing, writing and producing songs is a creative and very personal affair. It can be very scary too, especially when it has to come out in the market," she explains.

Which is why, by the time Breathing Under Water hit the market, Shankar found she was already distancing herself from the project. "I'm planning my live shows and another album, in fact," she says. By the time you read this, therefore, the duo will likely be in Jaipur, and would have perhaps already performed for the last leg of the literary festival there.

Having used some of the more popular Hindi playback singing voices (Shankar Mahadevan and Sunidhi Chauhan) in Breathing Under Water, both Shankar and Kale agree that the sound in Hindi cinema is changing to accommodate newer sounds.

Kale, in fact, is already composing tracks for Salim-Sulaiman and while composing for Bollywood has been a "recent curiosity" for Shankar, she admits to be more than content with the stage.

The orchid, which Shankar holds in her artistic fingers, is still fresh. Maybe because it's in safe hands, in the fingers of someone who is coaxing her own special sound "" with adequate help from Kale ""out of her sitar.