British-Indian-American sitar player, producer, film composer and activist Anoushka Shankar shares her first live album since 2001’s Live At Carnegie Hall: Between Us… is her debut with German label LEITER and draws upon material from four solo albums, but also features one previously unreleased track. The record sees Anoushka Shankar maintain a long tradition of collaboration which began as a 13-year-old girl, when she started performing sitar alongside her father and teacher Ravi Shankar. Between Us… features Shankar’s regular collaborator – and master of the Hang a.k.a. hand pan – Manu Delago alongside Holland’s Metropole Orkest, directed by renowned conductor and arranger Jules Buckley. The album was recorded in 2018 during a short run of shows in the Netherlands.

Anoushka Shankar recalls the concerts with considerable fondness. “Going on stage with an orchestra where the audience is standing and feeding back a lot of energy, I just loved that electricity. I’m used to it in other kinds of shows, but getting that in an orchestral show felt really fresh and fun. Having several shows with the same orchestra, getting to know Jules a bit more and continuing to work closely with Manu: it felt like this is how it should be in a perfect world…”

Capturing a magical, unforgettable collaboration at its peak, Between Us… – as its title suggests – provides all the evidence one might need of that perfect world…