Hear Bengaluru Artist Sanoli Chowdhury’s Atmospheric New EP ‘A Distant Meadow’

On her second EP A Distant Meadow, singer-songwriter and producer Sanoli Chowdhury dives further into developing her own sonic language, a downtempo/shoegaze and alternative amalgam driven by confessional, cathartic lyrics.

Among the five tracks on the EP is a cover of English post-punk pioneers Joy Division’s seminal 1980 release “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Interestingly, Chowdhury was introduced to the song and the band via label United Sound Records’ founder Vinod Gadher, who also released her 2020 EP It’s All a Monotonous Game. In terms of not only listening to but also covering what is considered one of the most important songs in rock history, Chowdhury says it was a new experience. She says about her process, “I did do a little research on the band and the story behind the song. I tried to take it quite objectively to begin with.” Originally adapting the bassline of the song, the artist says she scrapped that idea to start “with a fresh perspective and made something that made sense” to her.

There’s Radiohead-esque dazzle on the opening title track, while saxophonist Gautam David guides “Mediocre Movements,” his lead acting as a segue to a stargazing guitar solo from Chowdhury. David’s saxophone reappears on the somber “Sculpted Failures” as well, which is the only self-produced track on the EP. The rest were remotely co-produced by Oskar Vizan in London. “I had sent Oskar the songs around July of last year and he had made some valid structural changes to them. It gave me a fresh perspective with the EP and taught me a few new production ideas and gave me a bit more understanding within the production realm as well,” Chowdhury says.

A key priority for the artist has been picking up more on the production and sound engineering front. By December last year, she had finished her stint at Bengaluru studio Stained Class Productions LLP as an audio engineer. “My understanding of just sonic environments is a lot more now. I feel like I am heading in the right direction, in some way or the other,” she adds.

Listen to ‘A Distant Meadow’ EP below. Stream on more platforms here.