New Delhi singer, composer and producer Sijya. Photo: Press image
New Delhi composer-producer and vocalist Sijya has dropped her new downtempo single “Tabla” after signing to One Little Independent Records, who will release her upcoming EP Leather & Brass this September.
The track marks a big move for Sijya, who released her debut EP Young Hate in 2022 via London label Accidental Records. With One Little Independent (OLI), the artist is on the same roster as the likes of Björk, U.K. artist Laura Misch, and American dream pop artist Glasser. Sijya says in a statement, “Signing to OLI was unexpected and feels incredible. They have a long history of supporting strong and serious female musicians. Björk is the ultimate matriarch of us misfits. This is thrilling and somewhat nerve-racking too. It’s definitely fuelled a lot of new energy into me, and faith.”
The song “Tabla” has just a single tabla sample, so Sijya turned it into a “personal joke” around easy categorizations that occur in the 21st Century. She says, “The song has one tabla sample, so ‘Tabla’ was the working title. There’s so much pressure on us as South Asians to commodify our identity and culture, and it’s so prevalent right now. So, this is me having a laugh over it.”
More seriously, however, the song concerns itself with “forcing yourself to go through the ordeal of believing in yourself.” She adds, “It’s also about not letting other people (especially men) do things that seem hard, for me. That makes me feel weak and hollow. This work is all mine. It’s imperfect, but I wouldn’t have anyone else make it theirs.”
In 2022, Young Hate marked Sijya’s breakout that took her to stages across India and the U.K. (including a remix of artist Nabihah Iqbal‘s “Sunflower” last year), Leather & Brass was in the works for a while. Calling the process of finishing it “painful,” Sijya adds, “Before this EP, I felt like I was messing about. I didn’t think a career in music was possible. Young Hate was my first attempt at ‘doing’ any music at all. Now, with this second EP, I feel like I have become a musician. I am now doing this with intention. This EP feels like the beginning of me trying to find a sound.”
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