The veteran tabla artist and producer/experimentalist’s first full-length in about two decades will feature vocalists including Papon, Hamsika Iyer, Vasundhara Vee and more
Anurag Tagat
Sep 30, 2023
Talvin Singh. Photo: Colston Julian
It’s not accurate to say that British artist Talvin Singh ever left India, even though the tabla artist and producer was away during the last few years due to the pandemic. Singh tells Rolling Stone India over an interview from London that he’s been visiting New Delhi not just to study the sitar-adjacent instrument surbahar from his guru, but also to set up his new studio and prep to release his first album in nearly 20 years. “India today has the most diverse artistic talent and buzzing youth culture. This has been inspiring me and my music,” Singh says.
Ahead of two performances at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai, Singh is a busy man – he’s bringing his instruments down and having master luthiers work on maintenance in New Delhi and Vadodara, he’s sitting down face to face with musicians (“I found lockdown static,” he says) and has plans to set up a mastering studio in Mumbai, all the while collecting more “analog gear and esoteric electronic as well as Indian acoustic instruments.” He says, “India gives me the zeal and perspective on my music today, as I have been touring since a very early age! […] I started touring at the age of 16 and my first real tour was Lollapalooza in the States, I was a percussionist for a punk band and that’s when I conceived my Tablatronics [project] in 1990. I needed the tabla amplified to match the high decibels and amplitude of bass amps and guitar amps.”
Fresh from performances at the South Bank Centre with fashion designer Nicholas Daley (who’s married to DJ-producer Nabihah Iqbal) and U.K. musicians Lucinda Chua and Coby Sey – called Woven Rhythms – Singh says his NMACC shows will mark the world premiere of his ensemble. Comprising drummer Dhir Mody, sarangi artist Dilshad Khan, flautist Shriram Sampat, producer Premik Jolly and vocalist Hamsika Iyer, the group will perform material from Singh’s upcoming album, slated for release in March 2024. Spread across two days on September 30th and October 1st at the Studio Theatre, Singh says there will be a traditional sarangi-tabla concert to kick off, followed by new album material and “Asian Underground classics” including songs from his seminal albums OK and Ha.
There are three singles releasing this year from the new album and Singh says that the years of not publishing music has “gifted” him with a vault full of unreleased tracks. Among the reasons for the long pause between albums is Singh’s disinterest in releasing music in a more digital format, “without sleeves.” He adds, “I have always had an audiophile assent to my productions and that’s what’s ignored in the world of the recording industry.”
Nevertheless, the album “touches deep into diasporic roots” for Singh, as well as London’s bass culture, along with an emphasis on breakbeats, sound design and of course, Asian Underground. He adds, “It has taken my years to come to a realization that African music has deep resonance in my soul as well as Indian music. My father spent his early days in East Africa with my grandparents and I heard more stories about life in East Africa than I got to hear stories of Punjab.” Vocalist Hamsika Iyer – who sang for the tabla artist-producer’s soundtrack to 2018 film Once Again – features on the album, as does Assamese star Papon. “Vasundhara Vee is on a song which I have kept very close in my heart and soul. I feel nothing but gratitude to have all these amazing vocalists and musicians participating with their graceful gifts in music,” Singh says.
Talvin Singh performs at Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai on September 30th and October 1st. Get details here.
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