Ganavya - Nilam

HAILED BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL AS “AMONG MODERN MUSIC’S MOST COMPELLING VOCALISTS” – HAS ANNOUNCED HER NEW ALBUM NILAM, SET FOR RELEASE ON 23 MAY 2025.
CO-PRODUCED BY NILS FRAHM AT BERLIN’S RENOWNED FUNKHAUS COMPLEX, IT FOLLOWS DAUGHTER OF A TEMPLE, WHICH WAS NAMED BBC 6 MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR BY GILLES PETERSON. THE NEW YORK TIMES CALLED HER “THE SINGER WHOSE WORK FEELS LIKE PRAYER,” WHILE THE GUARDIAN INCLUDED HER IN THEIR TOP 10 BEST GLOBAL ALBUMS OF 2024.
LISTENING TO THE REMARKABLE NILAM, IT SEEMS IMPLAUSIBLE NOW THAT ITS INCEPTION MIGHT EVER HAVE BEEN IN DOUBT. THOUGH IT WAS ALMOST NEVER RECORDED, A FEW FREE DAYS BETWEEN SOLD-OUT SHOWS IN BERLIN AND LONDON LED LEITER CO-FOUNDER FELIX GRIMM TO SUGGEST CAPTURING SONGS GANAVYA HAD LONG PERFORMED LIVE. JOINED BY HER TRUSTED COLLABORATORS MAX RIDLEY (BASS) AND CHARLES OVERTON (HARP), SHE ENTERED THE STUDIO. THE RESULT: A RECORD OF QUIET POWER AND PROFOUND CONNECTION.
“I DIDN’T THINK WE HAD AN ALBUM,” GANAVYA RECALLS. “BUT WHEN I LISTENED BACK, I REALISED ALL THE SONGS WERE CONNECTED.” NILAM—THE TAMIL WORD FOR ‘LAND’—EVOKES BALANCE, GROUNDING, AND PRESENCE. THE OPENING TRACK, ‘LAND,’ IS INSPIRED BY A POEM BY PALESTINIAN WRITER SUHEIR HAMMAD, WHOSE VISION OF LOVE AS PATIENT AND PRAYERFUL MIRRORS THE RECORD’S CENTRAL THEME: DOING WHAT’S NEEDED TO KEEP GOING.