Mumbai-based keys player, composer, and beatsmith Sandunes heads up the latest release on Artist Originals, an initiative from international streaming service, Saavn, to develop and distribute new music with independent artists from around the world.

The release takes the form of an audio-visual EP, each track paired with a video in collaboration with budding young animation directors, and conceived around esoteric influences—magic, tarot, and the occult—that inspired the music.

Sandunes has been a global presence lately, opening for Bonobo at Manchester International Festival, performing at London’s Barbican Centre under a commission from Warp Records, alongside appearances throughout India, including the celebrated Magnetic Fields festival and the prestigious National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai. And it was whilst touring as support for Pretty Lights in US, where her latest EP was birthed.

NOLA Daydream was conceived and recorded during a fortuitous studio session on a tour stop in New Orleans. Sandunes explains: “While touring the US with Pretty Lights, I was the beneficiary of a serendipitous opportunity. The day before scheduled studio time in New Orleans, Derek (Pretty Lights) had to rush home to Colorado. I found myself in a beautiful New Orleans studio, surrounded by a wealth of gifted local musical talent. There was only one thing to do: record. This material—snippets, samples, and recordings—have formed the musical foundation and conceptual inspiration for my next EP: NOLA Daydream.”

Whilst producing the record from her Mumbai studio, Sandunes teamed up with the animation house Studio Moebius to devise NOLA Daydream as an audio-visual project. Sandunes explains: “The theme behind NOLA Daydream is identity, ancestral lineage, and questioning where we come from. I’ve always been inspired to explore the question: where do we come from, and are we simply a product of the experiences of our ancestors?”

The videos form a four-part series, which tells the story of a young woman guided by intuition through a mental maze. “In part it’s a metaphor for the sometimes unhelpful neurological fizz our minds create as we move through life,” Sandunes adds.

Tracklisting

01. Does Bombay Dream of NOLA
02. Gold Streets
03. Nutterfly
04. The Trust ft Helen Gillet

NOLA Daydream’ is released digitally and across all streaming platforms on February 7, with lead track “Does Bombay Dream of NOLA” straming in full via the player above.