This Earth Day, Indian-American violinist Gingger Shankar and Inuit throat singer Charlotte Qamaniq from Nunavut, Canada brought their diverse cultures closer together with a song titled Ever So Lonely/Eyes/Ocean, that captures the essence of Nature. It was released under record label Naughty Horses Records on April 22 worldwide.
The song shares its moniker with Ever So Lonely, the debut single by British band Monsoon with Sheila Chandra, a retired English pop singer of Indian descent, on vocals (later remixed as Ever So Lonely/Eyes/Ocean by Stephen Haig). It blends South Indian carnatic classical vocals with Inuit throat singing — a vocal tradition of the Inuit indigenous people, where singers produce rhythmic and harmonic sounds using specialised breathing techniques.
“When Gingger approached me to collaborate on this song, I was instantly drawn to it because in our culture we have higher powers and deities that come from Nature, environment, land, ocean, and weather,” says Charlotte adding that a deity named Sedna, who is the goddess of ocean and protects marine life, was her inspiration for the song.
