Anoushka Shankar

The music on this album was, more than anything, about how I at times need to fold myself away to heal for a metaphorical night before facing a new day; that all of us are carrying too much and need to be able to stop and heal, and that the world itself needs to take a pause, reflect and move in a new direction. This music is my interpretation of the healing, embryonic quality of night, and it’s for whatever part of us needs to hold on through the dark and trust that there will be a new dawn. My producer @peteraeburn and I started making this music last summer, playing music and having long conversations about hope, healing and recovery. As the months went on it became clearer and clearer that it was also about the world’s desperate need to change. It broke my heart after the pandemic that everything went back to what wasn’t working before, as opposed to an - admittedly fantastical - possibility that we could have globally taken stock and changed our ways. Sometimes it feels utterly bleak and hopeless. And in those moments the pathological optimist in me peeks out, knowing that even in the moments I don’t have hope, I have to act as if I do, because otherwise, what do we have left? If we collectively act with hope, might we not start to make that alternate reality true for each other, and possibly ourselves? ‘Chapter II: How Dark it Is Before Dawn’ is out now. Writers: Anoushka Shankar and @peteraeburn (tracks 1,2,3,5,6) and Anoushka Shankar and @dannyiskeane (track 4) Producer: @peteraeburn Co-producers: @starkkar ; Luis Almau (track 4) Mixing Engineer: Luis Almau and @peteraeburn Recording Engineer: Luis Almau, John Mourounas, and Ben Jones Mastering: @heba_kadry Photography: @fabricebourgelle ⁠ Design: @studio_t_p Recorded at Soundtree Music Los Angeles and Soundtree Music London Released on: @leiterverlag

I feel so fulfilled to have finally released ‘In The End,’ my latest single from Ch. II: How Dark it is Before Dawn. I loved reworking this song with @dannyiskeane having first written it when he helped arrange the score I wrote in 2017 to the 1928 silent film, Shiraz: A Romance of India. This was, to me, the most moving piece from that soundtrack, and I’ve been waiting ever since for the right album to release it on. (Swipe for a sample of that incredible film!) Separately, another celebration of @fabricebourgelle and the whole team that brought the single’s artwork into being (along with the artwork for ‘New Dawn’ and the album cover itself!). I can’t wait to share the full album with you on the 5th April. Pre-order link in bio! Released on: @leiterverlag @annmakosinski @chessthornton @dimitridippolito

Happy Sunday everyone! I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you for the incredibly beautiful feedback I’ve had for my new song, ‘New Dawn.’ It hasn’t happened many times before that I felt people so clearly grasp the exact nature of the themes I was hoping to share in my work and then respond to it so deeply. Thank you for this beautifully reciprocal experience of feeling heard and received in this manner. If you haven’t heard the song yet, please do! It was made in collaboration with my dear friend @peteraeburn , who co-wrote and produced the song along with the forthcoming mini-album to which it belongs. We spent four wholesome, inspiring days together at his California home last spring when I was there for an orchestral performance, and the bulk of the mini-album was born from those sweet and trusting home-studio explorations. I’m so grateful for friends and artists like Peter who can provide such a safe space for creative exploration, and I truly feel that he helped me find and achieve a new sound I’ve been dreaming of finding for many years. (Swipe for BTS!) ‘New Dawn’ listening link and ‘Ch II: How Dark it is Before Dawn’ pre-order link both available at link in bio! Stunning cover photo by my dear @fabricebourgelle . Glowy makeup by @chessthornton @leiterverlag

Just before I make the shift into performance mode ahead of tonight’s show at @casadamusicaporto , I wanted to share a thought about how much this latest mini-album cycle has gifted me. Firstly, working on Chapter 1 with @aroojaftab and Nils Frahm allowed me to reopen creatively from a place of tenderness and unhealed wounds. I leaned into the process of sharing intimate, snapshot-style musical experiences in the studio, and then with an audience both through the album itself and onstage. This gave me the trust to lean even deeper into this intuitive writing process on Chapter 2 with @peteraeburn , going right into my core desires to create from a place of spiritual hunger, making music responding to state of the word that is hopefully healing for myself and others. I’ve had the opportunity to bring to the surface parts of myself that are only exposed through humble simplicity and a heart connected to love. I am enormously grateful to have been given the safe space to do so by my collaborators, my wonderful quintet, and my beautiful audiences. Lastly—though no less vitally—there’s been the opportunity for freshness, for movement, afforded by the consistent rebirth inherent in releasing music in quick succession. These albums feel as if they’re still alive and in process even though they are released, and they in turn feed my current experience of writing Chapter 3 with artists I can’t wait to tell you more about. It’s exhilarating, this constant renewal, and I’m so happy and grateful to be on this journey with you. If you’re coming to the show tonight, I’m so looking forward to seeing you! Now, time for me to put my phone down and begin… ‘Chapter I: Forever, For Now’ and ‘Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawn’ both out on @leiterverlag Film by @sabittisekar @outermostagency

Feeling that intoxicating day-before-show electricity as I head to PORTO to play @casadamusicaporto tomorrow (albeit looking slightly less glam whilst travelling than these photos might suggest!) ⚡ There are still a handful of tickets available for tomorrow’s show, so hurry to the link in my bio to get yours! 📷 @sabittisekar 👙 Yummy new bra/top/choker thing from my fave @tallulahlingerie

Ah, the last weekend in June, when thousands of gorgeous party-goers descend on the magical world of @Glastonbury . It goes without saying that what Michael and @emily_eavis have created in this festival is the stuff of legend, a place for so many to commune, to let go, to give way to experience. As an attendee, it is simply mind-blowing. I’m thinking of all my friends performing there this weekend and my heart is full- it’s a bumper lineup indeed! It makes me reminisce: what a feeling it was to walk onto the West Holts Stage as a performer in 2016, looking out at a sea of beautiful faces, all looking to us to provide them with that experience, the oneness that comes with standing (often in the rain!) shoulder to shoulder. It’s a rare performance that stands out crystal clear in my memories of 29 years on stage around the world; a crowning moment of a tour in support of ‘Land of Gold,’ an album that still means so much to me eight years on. May I also ay, an album sadly as relevant as ever, written in support of the tragic and ongoing humanitarian refugee crisis. Whilst this is a weekend to celebrate, may we hold in our hearts those who suffer, and reflect on how we can contribute to positive change. @manudelagomusic @tomwfarmer @shankarshehnai @dgclassics @wolvesvisuals

Hello friends, I’m coming at you on this beautiful summer morning with a reminder that, following on from a couple of beautiful summer dates, my quintet and I will be in Europe this AUTUMN for four more shows! I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to stepping into these gorgeous venues where we’ll be exploring music from ‘Chapter I: Forever, For Now,’ ‘Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawn,’ plus some treats from my back catalogue. I hope I’ll see some of your faces in the audience! 28/09 Kölner Philharmonie @koelnerphilharmonie , Cologne, DE 30/09 Muziekgebouw Eindhoven @muziekgebouwehv , Eindhoven, NL 01/10 Desingel Concert Hall @desingelartscentre , Antwerp, BE 02/10 Berliner Philharmonie @berlinphil , Berlin, DE @outermostagency @leiterverlag Poster photo 1 by @fabricebourgelle Poster photo 2 by @sabittisekar

Feels quite moving to see this snippet of film from our European tour in April and reconnect with how special it felt. The energy I’ve been feeling when playing this new music is so tender and powerful. To all of you who have been there with us recently, thank you. 🙏🏽 Now, after recently playing to beautiful crowds in Vienna and Dresden and also a life-highlight experience getting an Honorary Degree at Oxford University this week(!), we’re continuing our little run of summer shows from the beginning of July. Ticket information for Porto on 3 July, Ozora Festival, Hungary on 4 August, and more to come, is on my website/ link in bio. Plus, stay tuned for more tour dates announced imminently! ☺️ Film by @sabittisekar @leiterverlag @outermostagency @ozorafestivalofficial @casadamusicaporto

Where to begin? It’s genuinely hard to put into words the day I’ve just experienced. Yesterday I received an Honorary Degree from Oxford University and became a Doctor of Music, and well, what an astounding honour. As those of you who have followed me for a while and know my story will already have gleaned, the kind of education I received was a deep and intense one. I learned to play music under the watchful tutelage of my father, ‘graduating’ from our home’s music room onto stages across the globe. It was a bold and beautiful way of being brought into being as an artist, and something I wouldn’t change for the world, but what it did mean is that I eschewed traditional higher education, choosing instead to learn on the job rather than in an institution. So what a wonderful, full-circle privilege it is now to be chosen as a recipient of an Honorary Degree and have my work ‘validated’ in this way, to be able to have a taste of the weird and wonderful world of Oxford University with all it’s pomp and ceremony, and to feel my heart burst from receiving one of the very greatest honours of my career so far. It meant to a lot to be stopped by South Asian students throughout the day who seemed to feel so much about my being honoured by their University and I’m blown away to be the first Indian musician to receive this honour. On a personal note, how blessed was I to be able to share this day with my mother and my children? What a gift to be able to make my mother proud like this! And how lucky I am to have sons who show up to support and love me and celebrate a moment like this! Lastly, may I say… what an outfit! Who knew the gown for Doctor of Music would be so different from all the others!!! Photos by my dear @swedeyc @melbutler14 @williamdalrymple @oxford_uni @krishanparmar_ @thefoldlondon

I’m so excited to be supporting Refugee Week this year, the world’s largest arts & culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees. With everything going on around the world there’s never been a more important time to stand in solidarity with refugees. There’s so many ways to take part! Please visit @refugeeweekuk to find out more 🥰 Also, I’m loving this T-shirt; it’s super comfy and will be a staple for sure! Get your @refugeeweekuk T-shirt on @everpresshq 🙏🏽

Long one for the readers out there: Turned 43 last week. Reflecting on the last year in a personal context and feeling awed and grateful. Although it feels a bit strange to share the good stuff with you when there is so much wrong in the world (please register to vote if you’re in the UK!) it feels important to celebrate the good alongside resisting the bad. So here is my birthday gratitude list: I’ve done a lot of deep therapeutic work in order to reopen a creative flow after years of personal troubles made me feel blocked, hitting a new creative stride in writing and releasing two mini-albums this year and developing new collaborations I can’t wait to tell you more about. It feels like a journey hard-won even if not much seems different to an outsider. This was the first year since the pandemic that I’ve done what I would call ‘proper touring,’ traversing four continents and playing FORTY-FOUR concerts worldwide?! I’ve done this while juggling single-parenting, reading bedtime books via video calls and blocking out reconnection time when home. I couldn’t have managed it without the support of my boys and the village that helps us. Also, after nearly three decades touring I’ve finally learned to tour in a way that doesn’t negatively impact my mental health. I can’t express how joyous it has felt to be on stage and feel the spiritual connection of it without the addictive high or painful crash. This was also the year I received some news about my health that made a lot of things make sense. I found out I have an autoimmune condition that, whilst common, can severely affect someone if left untreated. Whilst it felt overwhelming at first to learn about it, starting to care for myself has helped me feel stronger and healthier than I have in years, so I’m deeply grateful for the information. Finally and most importantly, this was the year I turned fourteen years sober. Although that anniversary was many months ago, no achievement, creation or connection would be possible without that foundation, so I can’t go without expressing gratitude to all the people who help me walk that path! What are you grateful for today? 📷 @sabittisekar

What a night! Congratulations to the legendary @rogerfederer for his significant premier. There truly is no one like you. Kudos to dear @asifkapadia1 @hellojoesabia and everyone else involved. Inner smile at meeting the incredible @the.annawintour as well! Thank you to @rolex once again for a memorable evening. @houseofmasaba #rolexfamily