Recording artist, Cirque du Soleil star and TV personality Meetu Chilana celebrates the release of her second EP, In A Sense, now available worldwide for purchase on iTunes, Amazon and Google Play, and streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, and Saavn.
The EP’s grand debut was received to a packed house in Stage 2 of New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall on October 23rd, all of whom unanimously loved the new music, which includes three original tracks, as well as a cover of the Mazzy Star 90’s cult classic Fade Into You. All of the music on the new EP showcases Meetu’s uniquely sensitive vocal and compositional sensibilities.
Based out of New York, Indian-American Meetu Chilana—who uses only her first name professionally— has been likened to Norah Jones, Sade, and Adele but with a distinct Indian flair, thanks to learning and singing devotional hymns from a young age.
“It’s the product of balancing different cultural and musical backgrounds,” she explains. “My songwriting draws from the soothing nature of kirtan [devotional music], soulfulness of jazz, and storytelling of musical theater.”
In a Sense, follows Meetu’s 2007 self-affirming debut EP I Am, which contained six original tracks in English, Hindi and Punjabi. Musically, it offered an eclectic mix ranging from Punjabi bhangra to the personal balladry that marks its new follow-up EP.
The In a Sense title track projects a musical journey that is introspective and hopeful. It features award-winning New York guitarist Brandon Seabrook and disciple of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Jay Gandhi, on the bansuri flute in achieving the balance that Meetu strives for in her sound.
She has shared the stage with the esteemed Ustad Sultan Khan camp, Karsh Kale, Kailash Kher’s Kailasa, Asha Puthli, DJ Rekha and Nina Sky at world-class venues including The Bluefrog in Mumbai, New York City’s Jacob Javits Center, The Fillmore at Irving Plaza, Brooklyn Bowl, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
As versatile a performer as she is a singer-songwriter, Meetu was the lead vocalist/character in Cirque du Soleil’s production of Zarkana at Radio City Music Hall and Moscow’s State Kremlin Palace, and also toured extensively with Cirque’s production of Kooza. She is most visible as the host of AVS-TV, the weekly syndicated Bollywood magazine show that is seen by 90 million viewers worldwide.
Most recently, she worked with Mira Nair and Vishal Bhardwaj on the musical version of Monsoon Wedding headed for Broadway.
