India Shan Try’s Something New With Soul on ‘Don’t Wanna’
North-West London born and raised, India Shan has been surrounded by music from a young age.
She attended concerts and participated in young creative courses such as enrolling in the Amy
Winehouse Foundation. Now, India is a Roundhouse Resident Artist with just over 3000 monthly
listeners on Spotify, which is an impressive feat when her debut EP ‘Inertia‘ appeared on the music
radar in the summer of 2021.
She is also currently working under the label imprint of Raf Riley’s ‘Loup Ent’, Etta Bond’s long-time collaborator and producer. Initially, India Shan can be seen experimenting with ‘electronic-tinged soul’; (1) an exciting authentic sound she can continue to embrace in years to come. However, as more tracks are released, it is clear to see this artist is trying new ways to express her unique sound.
‘Don’t Wanna‘ is a track with delicate melodic intricacies set to a consistent backdrop of
instrumentation that carries the song through. Unlike India Shan’s previous singles such as ‘Waves,’ her
voice takes a more backseat calming approach in this track. Her voice takes on an ethereal quality that is intermingled between short, playful melodic moments.
Although I would not say the main vocal melodic line is washed into the background, it is more set on
a similar level to the rest of the track, rather than remaining a clear guide throughout like her previous
single ‘Straight Talk‘ illustrates.
There is a faster pace to ‘Don’t Wanna‘ than in some of Shan’s previous work, yet this does not overrun it
which is a difficult balance to maintain. To preserve the song’s integrity whilst keeping such a steady,
swift instrumentation, Shan could have been swallowed up by the background but has struck a good
balance. However, due to the highly consistent pacing and the regularity of the melodic interludes, the
song could be seen to lack a clear evolution. This may have been intentional, yet it would be
interesting to see if the song were extended, and at what point there would be a reprieve from the
consistency to show some layers of change within the musicality and pace.
Either way, this latest addition to Shan’s repertoire maintains her as an intriguing artist to follow with, that I am sure will release more exciting content soon.
India Shan is on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok