Indian-Origin U.K.Artist Shivali Bhammer's Contemporary Bhajans Have Far-Reaching Effects

The vocalist, along with composer-producer Arjun Coomaraswamy add R&B, EDM and pop versions of devotional songs like “Om Jai Jagdish Hare” for her latest album, The Bhajan Project 2

- ANURAG TAGAT

BHAJANS AND DEVOTIONAL MUSIC ARE an inseparable part of growing up in an Indian household, but there’s undoubtedly been a need to keep updating them for different audiences, across age and even geographical boundaries. U.K. artist Shivali Bhammer and her co-producer (and childhood friend) Arjun Coomaraswamy know this all too well. When they worked on The Bhajan Project and released it in 2010, it marked a new production and composition interpretation of everything from the Gayatri Mantra and Hanuman Chalisa to “Achutum Kesevam.”

While the Indian market is rife with devotional song renditions by the thousands, Shivali (who goes by her first name as an artist) made a clutter-breaking record in 2010 and followed it up with Urban Temple in 2012. Performing and shooting music videos on the back of these records, the singer finally put out The Bhajan Project 2 last month, teaming up with singer-songwriter Coomaraswamy once again for eight tracks and half an hour of what is called “contemporary bhajans.” Everything from scintillating electronic to R&B, pop and lo-fi treatments are given to devotional songs and believe it or not, they certainly work and have gone a long way in building Shivali’s dedicated fanbase.

In an interview with Rolling Stone India, Shivali talks about the differences between projects, working with Coomaraswamy and the memories that listeners have shared about her renditions. Excerpts:

It’s been 13 years between the two Bhajan Project albums. How do you look back at the first album in the context of this new record?