Anish Sood Transitions into Anyasa, Releases New Single ‘Rasiya’

In 2017, seasoned Goa-based electronic producer Anish Sood found himself at a point in his career where he wasn’t fully in sync with the music he was making and performing. That experience led him to kickstart a new introspective journey and dive back into making deep house music under his new moniker Anyasa. He says, “I was looking for a word that has a distinct Indian feel and also connects back to my identity in some way.” Sood adds, “Anyasa is the Sanskrit word for spontaneous or effortless and to me, that felt like the perfect way to describe this evolution.”

According to Sood, his music as Anyasa is “emotive and euphoric.” The artist explains that the songwriting draws heavily from his teenage years listening to progressive trance. “It was my gateway to electronic music,” says Sood. He adds, “Music from that era had some serious soul to it and I’ve tried to capture some of that essence.”

That soul can be felt tenfold on the first Anyasa single, the hypnotic “Rasiya,” featuring vocalist Isheeta Chakrvarty. The track is off Anyasa’s forthcoming four-track EP Gaya, out on August 12th via English electronic music group Above & Beyond‘s label Anjunadeep. Sood began writing the record in April last year and explains that it started off as a conceptual idea. He says, “I had never worked with Indian vocals throughout my career, and I would typically spend the summer in L.A. working with songwriters on new music. With travel shut down, exploring Indian sounds seemed like the natural recourse to me.”

Apart from Chakrvarty, Sood also ropes in singers Bawari Basanti, Avneet Khurmi and Amira Gill. “The process itself wasn’t very different from what I’m used to. All the four collaborators were incredibly professional and very easy to work with,” he says. Right from the beginning of the project, Sood kept in mind that he wanted the vocals to sit well with his underground/techno sound and not sound too poppy or have a hook. He says, “I think we managed to navigate that pretty well.” Sood adds, “I think each of them added their own flavor to the EP and have helped create a body of work that is complete together, but wherein each track has a distinctive sound and feel.”

Gaya – which Sood counts as primarily designed for dancefloors – opens with the already released “Rasiya” which includes Chakrvarty’s immersive vocals as well as a percussive bridge section. “Nacho” calls upon Basanti and picks up the pace with its string arrangement and anthemic vocal delivery while “Ranjhna” moves into a melodic techno space while lush pads support Khurmi’s vocals. The EP closes with the high-energy “Nadiyan” as warm synths, a percussive bassline and pumping drums carry Gill’s voice.

While the electronic artist has toured alongside the likes of fellow producers and DJs such as David Guetta and Kygo, performed at global festivals and even co-wrote the track “Be Nice” with American dance-pop group the Black Eyed Peas in 2019 as Anish Sood, ask him if he will continue to perform and release music under his name? He says, “Anyasa is an evolution to Anish Sood which means that I won’t be releasing any new music or performing under Anish Sood for the foreseeable future.”

Sood tells us that it “feels very surreal” to sign with Above & Beyond’s Anjunadeep. He counts the group as one of his biggest influences and recalls watching their four-hour set at Sunburn in Goa in 2007. He says, “They have also stuck to their sound over these years and built this incredible family of fans between their Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep labels.” He adds, “It’s always a bold step for such an established label to sign a record from a different language and I’m very grateful for the trust they have placed in me. They have an amazing team in London and it’s been a very engaging process to work with them.”

Currently, Sood is already in the final stages of wrapping up production on his second Anyasa EP. The producer is also keen to get back to playing shows to support the release. “This sound is best enjoyed on a dancefloor with a big sound system, so we’re hoping restrictions ease up and we can safely execute that,” he says.

Stream “Rasiya” below on Spotify and other platforms. Pre-order ‘Gaya’ here.