Chhavi Sodhani on the Challenges and Wins Heard on Her Debut EP ‘X-Axis’

A singer since the age of 5, Chhavi Sodhani’s debut EP X-Axis is a showcase of her honed music production skills that take the experimental pop route.

It comes after years of proving herself as an artist, first rising to acclaim on the music reality show Fame Gurukul in 2005. It was on that show that Sodhani – who had made it to the top 12 with the likes of Arijit Singh – developed a vocal issue and could not continue her stint on the show. She says, “In that time that I lost my voice for many years, is the time that I picked up music production and I only realize now that because that one door shut, I hustled in new directions, which has today made me a more complete artist in a sense. I firmly now believe that there is a silver lining to every bad that happens in our lives.”

Sodhani takes on the role of singer and producer across three tracks – “Maaf,” “Nagma” and “Alvida” – and brings a range like she’s quite done before. The decision to sing, composer and produce her debut EP didn’t need too much thought, though. She says, “I knew from the very beginning I wanted to curate, craft and design every note and sound on it as it is centered around my own coming of age stories.”

Taking a conversational tone for listeners to better understand Sodhani as not just an artist but also a person, X-Axis brings songs like the slow-burn simmer of “Maaf,” the unsettling pop of “Nagma” and the late-night bop that’s “Alvida.” The artist bats for more mindfulness in life, acknowledging the trial-and-error method of it all for most of us. “I bared my soul in Maaf, reflecting on the urgency for each one of us to practice self-forgiveness. I knew it in my bones when I wrote it that this song speaks to each and every human being, especially in today’s times,” she says.

“Nagma,” which looks back at a past relationship and finds “hidden treasures,” takes an approach to production that’s unconventional. The artist says, “It starts off with the sound of a clock taking people back in time. There are also counters to the vocal on a cello which I interpret like a conversation between your head and heart. I tried my best to hit that sweet spot of marrying the music production to the essence of the song lyrically.”

Sodhani addresses her journey as a musician and coming to terms with her changing voice on “Alvida,” which brings the EP to a close. In moving on from the anguish of what had happened and accepting her new self, Sodhani says she took many years. “And what better way than actually making a song about it and sing it as that would truly be my catharsis and give me closure,” she says.

To that end, working on an EP from start to finish in all aspects made her realize how “immensely liberating” a project like X-Axis has been. While saying that she had to be “mindful and trusting” of herself and her skills, Sodhani also shouts out sound engineer Vincent Joseph who mixed and mastered the EP.

Sodhani is now in the process of putting together a band to take her songs on the road. “I’ve been performing folk music, semi-classical music and film music for many years now but to be performing my own music will be in a whole new league of joy.”