Today, Indian-American, Austin-based singer and composer Nagavalli announces the release of her upcoming album “Numinosum,” slated for release on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. To celebrate the new record, Nagavalli will be performing an official album release show on Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Stateside Theatre at the Paramount located at 719 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the show will begin at 8 p.m. Supporting Nagavalli on the bill is Americana folk-rock artist BettySoo, with more special guests to be announced soon. Tickets for the album release show range from $25 - $39 and are now on sale. To purchase advance tickets, please see here. For more information on Nagavalli, please see here.
“Numinosum” features Valli’s signature soulful sound which includes east-Indian melodies blending with pop, rock and other modern genres that have influenced her music. Many of the songs convey deep emotions and experiences, such as a yearning for profound human connection, optimism during times of grief, and freeing oneself from the burdens of labels and judgment. The record is dedicated to the father figures in Valli’s life, and the album is set to be released just after the anniversary of her father’s passing.
“The record is, in a way, a microcosm of my lived experience between the east and west at so many different levels and how these influences come together in my own songwriting and performing,” said
Nagavalli. “There are several original songs in English, a well-known invocation to Devi Durga (Aigiri Nandini), the divine feminine, an Eliza Gilkyson cover (Midnight Oil) that is very close to my heart and then some really popular covers from India and Pakistan (Damadam Mast Qalandar, Tere Bin Nahin Lagda).”
“Numinosum” was recorded at Blue Rock Artist Ranch & Studio in Wimberley, Texas. Nagavalli produced the record alongside her band member and friend, Katie Marie, while Blue Rock Studio’s Nathan Walters engineered the album and Isha Erskine, an award winning engineer from California, mixed and mastered “Numinosum” to its completion. The vocals for “Numinosum” were performed by Nagavalli, and Katie Marie contributed harmonies, acoustic/electric guitar, bass and drums. Matt Muehling played the electric guitar on most of the tracks on the record, Matt Read on acoustic guitar, with Jason McKenzie performing percussion, Indrajit Banerjee playing the sitar and surbahar, Indradeep Ghosh playing the violin, Oliver Rajamani on the sarod and Sheela Bringi playing the flute on the album.
“I am very proud to have signed up my friend, band member, multi-instrumentalist and producer Katie Marie to produce this album with me,” said Nagavalli. “There are so few female producers in the industry. For that reason too, I am proud of what she and I have accomplished on this album. This is also my first time recording at Blue Rock Studio in Wimberley, Texas and the space has yielded great results sonically.”
“Numinosum” also marks the first time Nagavalli has brought many of the songs she’s been performing and honed on stage to the recording studio, truly capturing her work over the last several years. Listeners will enjoy a blend of Indian instruments and scales layered on arrangements with bass, guitar and drums. The album also features serene sounds from the sitar, surbahar – a bass sitar, violin, flute and sarod as well as percussion driven by kanjira, doumbek, djembe and tabla.
“Nagavalli’s voice and spirit give me the depth of experience I long for in music and rarely reach,” said Eliza Gilkyson, renowned Austin-based folk musician.
Nagavalli’s last album project, “Immersion,” came out in January of 2019 with an unforgettable sold-out concert at the One World Theatre in Austin. Hartt Stearns, the Founder of One World Theatre, stated “Nagavalli is truly an amazing talent. Her concert was one of the most moving performances I have experienced at One World Theatre.”
