Playback singer Kalyani Nair who has worked with several notable names in the South Indian film industry is turning music composer with 'Ula', an Extended Play series that contains four tracks featuring 25 singers from 'The Indian Choral Ensemble'.
The first of the four tracks 'Nam Tham', a Tamil version, will release on all streaming platforms, including her YouTube channel on July 31. In the singer's own words, the song is very strongly rooted in Indian music, and at the same time harmonically very rich which makes the choral arrangement very unique. “Majority of the song is built on just two syllables 'nam' 'tham' and the end of the song has a small lyrical section written in Tamil. The lyrics highlight mother nature's conversation to a budding flower where she urges it to come out of its hiding soon to witness the beautiful world outside her, which is synonymous to a new mother’s wait for the arrival of her newborn,” she says.
The Hindi version of the same track will be the last single from the EP, which will release in November. Kalyani says she has a special connection to the song 'Nam Tham', as it reflects on the special moments of her own life as a mother. The lyrics of the Hindi version were written by her, while the lyrics of the Tamil version was written by singer Pradeep Kumar.
'Omanathingal', the Malayalam lullaby penned by Irayimman Thambi has been approached with a fresh tune and arrangement for choir, strings, guitar, bass and percussion. The song will release in September. 'Iru Manam', another track from the EP will release in October. The song, according to Kalyani, reiterates the fact that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. “We always admire the beauty outside, only to realize that the reason behind this external beauty is the actual beauty that radiates from within ourselves,” she says.
The Budapest Scoring Orchestra will feature in 'Omanathingal' and 'Iru Manam', says the singer, who is excited about the venture.
Meanwhile, The Indian Choral Ensemble, which is a 40-piece mixed vocal group comprising of talented singers from all over the country was founded by Kalyani and her friend Karthik Manickavasakam.
“Our repertoire gracefully presents the captivating grandeur of a large vocal group sound, showcasing both originals and popular song covers. Our compositions have sophisticated melodies and interwoven harmonies in a choral style arrangement that embodies the essence of Indian music. Our vision is to keep exploring and creating more and more original content in which both the choral and the regional musical element complement each other to create a unique choral repertoire that will help us take choral music to the larger masses all across the globe,” she says.
