KIRAN AHLUWALIA / Wanderlust

Longtime readers will no doubt remember Kiran Ahluwalia as one of the group of young women of Indian descent that graced GR’s cover a few years back. Now she returns with an American label to match her residency here in New York City. A tour veteran, Ahluwalia is a voracious listener, on tour and off, and this comes out in her music. "Jo Dil," the first track, is one of the most obvious fusions, matching Portuguese guitar with Ahluwalia's singular voice. But by the time the North African influenced "Yakeenan" plays midway through the album, these outside influences come to sound as natural as a chat between friends. Regardless of the direction the music takes, the singer maintains a unique sense of yearning, which is such an important part of ghazals, while also extemporaneously displaying her formidable vocal technique. It's this mix of melody and musical muscle amidst the shifting styles that stands out here, making Wanderlust the next step in this artist’s career.

So what is a ghazal?

Ghazals are love song—that the simplest way to put it. But things are never really simple. Ghazals are much more than love song—they talk about all sorts of human emotions. In ‘Tere Darsan' a woman describes herself as being, "the parched earth waiting for union with her beloved"—she longs to embrace him, "chest to chest."

With such a long tradition, how many do you think there are?

Ghazals in the Urdu language have been written and sung since the 1500s. There are thousands of classics and contemporary ghazals.

Do you write the song and then find lyrics, or vice versa. How does the process work?

I usually choose the ghazal—the actual poem first and then compose a melody for it. From time to time I hear my producer/ arranger/guitarist/husband, Rez Abbasi, play a pattern of chords that I am compelled to sing to, and so I go searching in my vault for words that I can compose to a specific chordal pattern.

This album seems to be a conscious effort to expand the range of ghazals using elements of other styles of music, such as Portuguese guitar.

Every album represents my expanding sensibilities as a musician. My music has always been a reflection of my own character—for the most part a reflection of both my Indian culture and Canadian upbringing. As I take my own music to distant lands I continue to bear other kinds of music and meet musicians from other genres. When I fall in love with something, I feel compelled to make it a part of my life. For this CD, I took influences from fado music, African Sahara grooves, Pakistani Qawalli, and jazz, all with the underlying basis of my Indian music.

So I understand that you use these different sounds, but why choose the title "Wanderlust”?

Wanderlust is a neat word that describes me and the process by which other influences enter my music. Indian music is my first love and I surround myself with it, but I am also eager to hear what else is happening in the world and to discover new ways of portraying the very same emotions that are in my songs. The title Wanderlust also reflects a specific ghazal on the CD. In the ghazal, "Yakeenan", the writer says, "I stumble more often than other people, only because I wander and experience more often. My wandering is still not perfect—I keep returning home too often."

"Tumba" is a folk song but not a ghazal, even though there is mention of love. Why is it defined as such?

Most if not all of the world's musical genres talk about love, and so love is not the exclusive domain of ghazal. Punjabi folk song is a different genre in itself. Differences in genres are harder to articulate and easier to hear. But a rudimentary explanation is that ghazals are ballads, their poetry has a higher literary sensibility. Folk songs are 'lighter' toe-tapping songs with a driving rhythm. The subject matter of ghazal is consumed by the "why," and the exploration of the self. Punjabi folk songs celebrate everything. There are of course always exceptions to the rule.