maajela
Maajela is a project taking influence from Hindustani, Sufi, Afrobeat, and Anatolian rock, aiming to create a powerful celebration of music through the different melodies, traditions, and rhythms these genres possess. Combining the sounds of the cultures they represent with contemporary, layered, and expressive writing, their music sits in a space within the ever-developing relationship between the East and West, particularly with their debut singles 'Jalna' and 'Bhairavi.' 'Jalna' track is about familial change for an Indian family in a white setting. Trying to adapt to a new world through migration, and the 'regular' or 'everyday' issues that may affect a family being heightened due to the intersectionality of experiences going on under these circumstances. The song is called Jalna which means to burn, the song is about both the burning that happens when things aren't aligning, but also the burning of fire that is resilience, particularly that of mothers and fathers. Bhairavi is the bands first attempt at doing what is commonplace in Eastern music, which is taking a raag and interpreting the feelings and emotions that it brings up in you. Bhairavi, the raag, evoked a feeling of ease and comfort, and then in the song I'm describing how I was searching for something until I sang it. The lyrics are small inflections of this, but overall, this piece is an ode to the process and power of a raag being passed down, interpreted and passed on again.
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