Her mystical voice has been on repeat mode on many of our playlists. Whether it was the inspiring number ‘Yatra’, which she sang for Amit Trivedi for MTV Coke Studio, the soothing ‘Parakka Seivaai’ from Ambikapathy composed by A.R. Rahman or even the melodious ‘Meethi Boliyan’ from Kai. Po .Che., Malayali girl Mili has been a voice to reckon with. Now, however, Mili is finding her own new voice, in the form of ‘Written in the Stars’ — her first album, which will have its international launch on December 15. And what makes this all the more interesting is the incredible artists she has brought together for it. “This album is very special because it’s my first ever album. To have these great musicians work together to make my vision a reality is a dream come true,” says Mili.
Speaking up about what went behind the creation of her album, Mili says, “Life happened; one thing lead to another. I never imagined this would happen. If, a few years ago, someone came and told me that things would unfold this way I would have never believed it,” she says sounding philosophical. “I’ve always been writing songs. It was something that I kept doing and the ideas kept coming. And then one day I thought ‘Maybe I should do an album’. There was never a plan of doing any ‘singles’, because I was very clear about the fact that if I am putting myself out there, I wanted an album. All this while I was known only as a singer and this time I am also the songwriter and composer.”
Mili, has brought together a handful of living legends such as Vinnie Colaiuta, Michael Landau, James Genus, George Whitty and Bill Churchville for her album. Sharing her experience of working with these stellar musicians, she says, “I have been following their work for so long. And when you have a very clear understanding of what you want and for the kind of music that you have written as well, it just seemed right to have all these musicians that I have adored come together. I was very clear in my mind that I wanted to work with these artists.”
She adds, “I do not have words to express the feeling of working with these musicians. It was very special. The plan was to record the album live. It’s not like how music is made these days, everything you would hear in the album was recorded live and it is magical when such brilliant musicians came together to create music and record it live. And that is the connect and the energy that I would like to give the listener. That magical vibe is what the listeners will get.” In connection with its launch, a video will be released on December 15. “Apart from videos, we will also be coming out with CDs. Although I know people in today’s day and age, people do not prefer CDs. I have been getting a lot of enquiries regarding CDs,” she says, adding, “It’s an album and I think music should be listened to like an event, like reading a book or like watching a movie.”
