Monologues
Album tracks
The Inner Voice: Indo-Canadian Singer Vandana Vishwas Greets the World with Monologues
It took a dialogue to express her monologue. Indo-Canadian singer-composer Vandana Vishwas finds the path running straight from philosophy to love songs, from Hindustani classical compositions to jazz, from the reaches of the inner world to the chilling snows or warm festivities outside, from deep rooted traditional values to uninhibited free spirit. By collaborating with husband, lyricist, and multi-instrumentalist Vishwas Thoke (whose first name she uses as her last).
On her sophomore album Monologues (release: January 20, 2013), the vocalist turns to great works by India’s iconic poets and to intimately crafted lyrics written by Thoke, to the Western and world music influences of her adopted land and to the Indian Classical musical roots of her motherland.
Vandana’s songs echo the age-old subjects of Persian and Urdu poets, while embracing the myriad of complexities offered by the West to a soul from elsewhere. This series of monologues springs from dialogues between her two selves expressed as near and afar; between diverse cultures expressed as a tug-of-war between desires and conservative values; between identities expressed as a longing for homeland and quests for answers, for loves lost or desired. The continuously ensuing dialogues between our inner voices and outer duties, between our most personal desires and doubts and the social masks we wear, play out poignantly through a journey through musical genres, all guided by playful creativity and technical skill.
Leaping from her strong foundation in Hindustani classical music—from the soul stirring thumris, from the aching ghazals and intoxicating nazms—and from a cultural heritage drawing on centuries of musical and poetic riches, Vandana Vishwas has opened her heart and soul to assimilate the diverse sounds of Canada.
“Ever since we came to Canada, we have been listening to every kind of music style. Toronto is a mini world for us. I have taken a special liking for jazz, and it has become a bit of an obsession,” Vandana reflects. “It didn’t change my vocal rendering that much, but it has influenced the way I arrange my music. I had never thought I will ever use bass and chords in my songs before; I’ve especially come to love the way bass sounds and feels with Indian melodies.”