In the autumn of 2016, I took a trip to Berlin to visit a friend. One of the most notable things about young people in Berlin is their propensity to party. Clubs and bars are always open with parties going on nonstop the entire weekend and sometimes the weekdays. And by nonstop the entire weekend, I mean 6pm Friday until 6am Monday morning. My friend and I decided to go out on Saturday night and asked her roommate, native to Berlin, for suggestions. We were surprised by the questions he asked us before giving a suggestion: What kind of experience do you want? Do you want to meet people? Do you want to go alone? Do you go for the music? Do you go to dance? In particular, we didn’t understand the distinction between going for the music and going to dance nor did we understand why someone would want to go out alone. Cut to 3am when we were in a dark, underground club downtown consumed in red light and mist. Some people were dancing. Some people were together. Some were alone. Some people were wearing sunglasses. Whatever the case, nearly everyone was consumed by the music. And by consumed, I mean they were easily and effortlessly taken into the trance that the music had presented so enticingly. Standing there, we understood why someone would go out alone or maybe just for the music. Here, nothing but the music mattered.
Vandana brought me back to that night in Berlin where nothing mattered but the all-consuming music.
Taking influences from Portishead, the Cure, the London rave scene, and Indian pop music, metaphysical and esoteric references all merge together with throbbing, swollen synths. A singer-producer raised in India, educated in London and now living in Brooklyn, Vandana’s music contains no boundaries at any level. Her new six-track EP, Nox Anima, makes for an absorbing listen—‘Vicious’ was inspired by watching a lot of nature documentaries while ‘Nearly’ documents the seasonal cycles of a relationship. ‘Black Raven’ is my personal favorite and ‘Jaan,’ the latest single off of it, is a trying but exciting journey through a dense, deep, smoky forest with a loved one- about reconnecting with the primitive animal side.
Check out the EP here to submerge yourself in the abstract and visceral themes Vandana layers together.
