Composer, presenter and virtuoso sarod player, Soumik Datta, has an enviable catalogue of collaborations to his name. Having worked with everyone from Beyoncé to Bill Bailey, Soumik is renowned for his explorations into different genres and styles, combining Indian classical melodies with colourful, urban beats.
Talking about the single, Soumik explains: ‘Tiger Tiger is the continuation of my previous EP Jangal. Themed around deforestation and the climate change crisis, the compositions in Jangal used my sarod woven in with instruments and musical styles from forests that are being cleared at alarming rates. Drums from the Amazon region blended with tribal woodwinds from North East India and tuned metal percussion from Indonesia to create an uproar of sound.
‘Tiger Tiger is the finale to this collection of songs, featuring many of the same instruments with additional electronic textures and samples of forest fires. It is a response to man’s continual destruction of nature. This track imagines the roar of animals as they speed through the forest watching their homes on fire.
‘We invade tropical forests with road building, mining and logging. We cut trees, we kill animals, we disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural habitats. Today, we are seeing the hidden cost of human economic development. And now more than ever, it is time to change our relationship with the Earth.’
Listen to Tiger Tiger exclusively below.
Soumik Datta will be taking part in PRS Presents LCKDWN which begins Friday 24 April at midday (BST).
The one-off live event is being hosted in aid of the PRS Emergency Relief Fund, which was created expressly to support songwriters and composers facing significant financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more about PRS Presents LCKDWN here.
