Half Girlfriend singer Anushka Shahaney
Singer-songwriter Anushqa, who had written and performed songs "Stay a little longer" and "Lost without you" for director Mohit Suri's Bollywood film Half Girlfriend, has unveiled her new international single Ecstasy. She was also part of the first season of India's English singing talent hunt show "The Stage".
Having signed to the Universal Music Group in India, Anushqa is now aligned to internationally renowned label VIRGIN EMI - home to singers like Emeli Sande and James Bay, and band The Vamps - which will be her label in the UK.
"Ecstasy", composed and written by Rishi Rich and Anushqa, is a bass heavy pop track laced with Indian folk 'alaps' that retain her Indian roots. It released on Friday.
"When I was a contestant on 'The Stage', I had no prior experience in this field. Feedback from the judges was immensely helpful to make myself a better artiste each day and Devraj (of the music label) has been a mentor to me since the first episode of the show.
"I think the real journey began after the show. I went over to the Universal Music office for a songwriting session once and things just took off from there," Anushqa said in a statement.
Her single titled "Something in common" will be launched in August - the music video of which is being wrapped up in London.
"In my three years of being a judge on 'The Stage', one artiste who I fell in love with musically almost immediately was Anushqa from Season 1.
"She is one of the most prolific singer/songwriters in English we have in India and we have been working with her very closely to develop her sound which is very international but with a thumbprint which is distinctly Indian," said Devraj Sanyal, Managing Director and CEO, Universal Music Group India and South Asia.
"After almost 24 months of work I am very proud to have Anushqa release globally on the UK label Virgin EMI. Her first single 'Ecstasy' drops today (on Friday) worldwide, followed by her main single which drops shortly after, culminating into her debut EP later this year."
