In English, a house and a home may refer to the same physical space, yet they carry distinctly different emotions — a house can simply be a structure, while a home is shaped by the memories, people, and experiences held within it. Tamil, however, does not always draw that same emotional distance between its words for home. Be it ‘veedu’, ‘maaligai’, ‘illam’, or any other term, it can evoke a sense of belonging, a place that is lived in rather than merely inhabited. It is this idea of a space shaped by memory, emotion, and experience that sits at the heart of Siennor Trio’s latest album, ‘Ninaivu Maaligai’.
The 11-track album, which translates to ‘The mansion of Memory’, is not an attempt to simply revisit the past. For Siennor, it is a way of acknowledging what came before while finding the courage to move beyond it. “This is a gratitude funeral, like I’m thankful for everything from the past, but now I’m moving on,” he says. Siennor also adds that the songs cover various themes, like building a castle for all the memories, madness, love, and moving on to dreams. One of the songs also talks about inflation and how it has an effect on a musician.
The album began without a fixed blueprint. A few songs had already been written by Siennor, who began sharing them with bassist and co-producer Aravind Murali. Through conversations, changes, and arrangements among the trio, including percussionist Vinay Ramakrishnan, the record gradually took shape.
The musicians chose to retain the imperfections of a live performance rather than smooth them out through extensive programming. “We decided that we’ll produce it in a very organic way without any programmed MIDI tracks. Everything you hear is played live,” Aravind says. The band recorded together in a room, doing two or three takes of each song and choosing the versions they were satisfied with. Aravind adds, “There were overdubs, but it’s not like we were correcting every single thing, which is the trend nowadays. So, we wanted to do it in an old-school way. I think, with a lot of things, when you try to over-correct and pursue perfection, everything becomes sterile.” That organic quality also reflects the changing nature of the songs through live performance. Siennor explains that some songs change tempo, moving “slow in one place, fast in another place”, and the band felt those shifts were better captured through performance than constructed digitally.
The approach was also informed by the trio’s experience of playing the songs live over the past year. Having performed most of the album’s material at their shows, they watched the songs evolve with each performance and discovered new ways of approaching them. “The songs evolved with every show; we discovered the songs and how to go about it,” says Siennor.
But creating an 11-track independent album today comes with its own challenges. The musicians point to an ecosystem increasingly dominated by singles, music videos, and short-form content. “I think the biggest challenge that we face is trying to be truly independent,” Aravind says. The team compares the situation of getting the audience to listen to the album to that of a “small boat travelling in a large ocean scenario”. Talking about independent music, Aravind says that it is having its moment. “There are artistes of different genres and others who are doing something completely different. Even though all of us function independently, the essence of independence is actually sounding different and independent.”
For Siennor, the decision to make an album was also a conscious return to a form of listening he grew up with. “We really wanted to give an album listening experience,” he says. “Because that’s how I grew up when I was young. I used to listen to albums and not singles.” In an environment where artistes are often encouraged to release individual tracks one after another, the trio chose instead to preserve the experience of sitting with a body of work for over forty minutes.
That experience will move from the recording to the stage on October 17, when ‘Ninaivu Maaligai’ reaches streaming platforms and Siennor Trio performs it at the Museum Theatre, Egmore. The show will bring together music, visuals, poetry, and guest musicians, with the band promising no backing tracks. “I want them (audience) to come, listen, and decide for themselves,” Siennor says of what he expects from the live showcase. “It can be anything, because music, at the end of the day, is a matter of taste. They can like or not like and I still feel both liking and disliking is going to enlighten them.”
(Tickets for the performance is live on www.outworld.fanpit.live)