It was initially supposed to be a mellow, rubato song. In fact, it was to be collaboration between us and an absolutely amazing Sufi singer (which didn’t work out because of date mismatches). He was the one who called it “Sapling” first. The song eventually went on a completely different tangent (as u will hear)!  

Lyrically, it was conceived in Bulgaria. To be more exact, in a really beautiful train journey from Istanbul to Plovdiv (Bulgaria) through miles and hours of sunflower fields. 
This was part of our tour last year. 
During the writing process, it was the first time 3 completely different voices emerged…
•	one of a preacher --- the very first line of the song… the spoken bible verses etc
•	one of someone yearning for Grace/ love – in the chorus 
•	one of a subjectivity projected on a plant –  the identities mix in lines like
“seasons, they pass leaving their circular imprints behind
under my skin 
and quiet bags under my eyes”
(skin refers to the bark, while the eyes are of the person who is also growing older.)
(Sufi music also uses a lot of identity projection in its poetic texts)

The voices in the song mix in the verses rather than confining themselves to specific stanzas.


Sapling

Waking Hours

It was the first song we ever wrote together. Three days after we met and formed the band, we had the basic song ready. Then it sat for 18 months before it took its final form. It is one of those classic examples where making a song can take over a year while others get ready in a single day.

The verses had been written many years ago, but there was nobody who could convincingly give it body and arrange it the way it is till the two of us worked together.


Waking Hours

In 2009, we played at a major music festival in France called Tout Le Monde Chante Contre le Cancer.
It also invites many famous musicians, television personalities and actors for live performances of which the proceeds are used to aid children suffering from cancer.
Vasundhara’s grandfather died of cancer. The lines were written in parts over a long period of time. He had an exquisite farm house in the hills in Dehra Doon – hence the name.
For the EP, we got a friend to translate it to French (because very soon after the EP was recorded we had to go to back Bulgaria for a Francophone festival where a majority of the public would be French-speaking)  


Flowers in Doon - French version

Took the traditional version, kept the original melody intact and changed the accompaniment / harmony completely. This has a surprise in store towards the end.

Amazing Grace

One of the most famous and most beautiful pieces of Vocalese*, the lyrics to Moody’s Mood for Love  were written to exactly fit the original saxophone solo of James Moody on the standard called “I’m in the mood for love”. The fairly a-typical vocal lines and meter that we see here are common in songs that involve Vocalese.

Moody's Mood For Love

It is a French song called “L’Hymne à l’ Amour” that was made famous by Edith Piaf. There are various English versions of this song but we chose to keep the original 

adil.vasundhara

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