The album cover for 'Sweet Surrender', Aaradhna's fifth studio album. Photo: Renati Waaka
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It's been 20 years since Adeaze released their single 'Getting Stronger'. It went to number one in the charts, and in the process introduced a 20-year-old Porirua singer to the listening public.
Since then, Aaradhna Jayantilal Patel, known primarily by the mononym of her first name, has collaborated with some of our most beloved artists, and scooped up plenty of awards, including Best Soul/ RnB Artist at this year's Aotearoa Music Awards (a category that didn't exist until she pointed out its absence eight years ago).
In press Aaradhna has always celebrated her split heritage, (she has an Indian father and Samoan mother), and that's musically present throughout Sweet Surrender, in moments like the the percussion and flute on 'Mango Tree', 'Mercury Lane's joyous ukulele strum, and references in 'She' to a Hindu goddess, ancient Indian Prince, Samoan queen, and ceremonial weapon.
In her interview with Susie Ferguson, Aaradhna said this was the first time she'd written songs completely on her own. Over the last seven years she taught herself how to play instruments, and used them to construct what she calls 'skeletons' of the tracks for her collaborators to fill in.
Sweet Surrender with Aaradhna
In a recent Instagram post, she said, "This one means a lot to me and I hope that you can feel that". To my ears it's obvious.