MUMBAI: The Singapore-based artist who originally hails from Chennai attempts to aurally paint a picture of Man, Nature and the interconnectedness between them both with her collaborator Aditya Prakash on ‘HOME’. The second album from Sushma – features seven contemporary Carnatic classical tracks in mesmerising, experimental arrangements – ‘HOME’ released on all platforms on April 8th, 2022.
Sushma Soma’s sophomore offering, ‘Home’ is a reflection on her relationship with Nature and the Environment and her response to the events around the world that have impacted her. The seven track record has been created with Aditya Prakash, a fellow virtuoso of Carnatic music, as it explores sounds from our everyday lives that impact our environmental landscapes.The album showcases Sushma’s passion for sustainability and environmental awareness with its Carnatic sensibilities steeped in visceral sounds of nature.
Watch the trailer –
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HOME comes two years after Sushma’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Sa’ that featured global artists including Prakash and London-based Sarod composer Soumik Datta. Recognised as one of the ‘10 women leaders in music’ in Singapore (Hear65, Singapore, March 2021), Sushma was awarded the prestigious Young Artist Award, the highest honour for young arts practitioners in Singapore, by The National Arts Council, Singapore, in December 2020.
Largely in Tamil and Sanskrit its one track in Hindi, ‘HOME’ uses Carnatic music as the foundation, where Sushma while being unable to ‘actually’ be the voice for the voiceless, at least can authentically voice herself… “For the wonderment, pain, conflict, shame, gratitude”, and so much more that artist feels towards this incredible planet – “the only ‘HOME’ we’ve known, ” she says. Using the nuances of the Carnatic style and exploring sounds from our everyday lives that impact our environmental landscapes, the album attempts to aurally paint a picture of Man, Nature and the interconnectedness between them both.
In Sushma’s words, “The starting point for this album was a series of incidents that left me feeling gutted; from the pregnant elephant in India who tragically died when she fed on a pineapple stuffed with explosives, to the loss of indigenous plants and wildlife in the Amazon forest fires. I was also struggling to reconcile my love for the natural world with my everyday choices starting from the care-less consumption of single use plastic and to blatant wastage of resources.”
Aditya Prakash who served as a producer and co-creator alongside Sushma brought together composite elements of their sound spectrum. Prakash, an award-winning vocalist known for his powerful and emotive voice, is one of the foremost young virtuosos of Carnatic music. Aditya has collaborated with leading innovators and artists, including Anoushka Shankar; Arme-nian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan; Asian Underground artist Karsh Kale, Bharatanatyam dancer Mythili Prakash and most recently the acclaimed dancer and choreographer Akram Khan.
Sushma has performed in various cities and venues across the world over the last decade including London, Brussels, Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur to name a few. Her notable collaborations include her recent performance with Bharata Natyam exponent Myth-ili Prakash which premiered at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany at the Reflektor festival curated by Anoushka Shankar. Sushma was the vocalist and one of the co-composers on the production.
HOME by Sushma Soma with Aditya Prakash, is sponsored by Olam International, The National Arts Council Singapore, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Indian Council for Cultural Relations and The Indian High Commission Singapore.
One of the tracks in the album, ‘Nature’, was featured in the BBC EarthShot awards.
The tracks are available on all major streaming platforms | Click to stream Home
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