All of 17, but Kiara Chettri has already made a name for herself in the field of music. She released her first single, You’ll See, two years ago, and this November 24 she got out her first album, 4AM, on life, love and world. The album comprises 10 songs — nine in English and one in Hindi — each of which is streaming across Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and Jio Savvn.
The album, which took almost a year to complete, explores the themes of hope, confusion, despair, fear, aspirations, young love, dreams of the future and betrayal. “The Hindi single, Kinara Tu, is a tribute to my mother,” says Chettri, “But I will always choose singing in English over Hindi.
I love Hindi music and I love singing in Hindi too, but English songs will always hold a special place in my heart because my musical journey started with singing these songs.
English is the language in which I can express myself the best,” she adds. Some of Chettri’s tracks released earlier as singles have been incorporated in 4AM. “I think by releasing a few singles before releasing the album, I got my audience. My album got such a great reaction from everyone and it has been truly overwhelming.” The singer entered the world of music at age 4.
“I just loved dancing and had no interest in singing at all. But I had to attend music classes as my mom runs a music school, Chantochords. She was quite confident that I would start singing over time but till I was 12, I thought I’ll never be good. Still I continued with my training.
It was at 13 when I graduated in vocals from the Trinity College of London that I realised I wanted to pursue music as a career,” recalls the class XI student at The Shri Ram School Aravali, Gurugram.
Inspired by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Little Mix & Lauv among others such as Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande (whose styles she admires), Chettri sees pop music as a natural fit for her expression and seeks to inspire her listeners with her sonic musings in the vicinity of pop, alt rock, electric pop and acoustic.
Why this unusual title for her maiden album? “4:00am is my favourite time to write music,” she shares with a smile, adding that she started writing this album in 2019 and the process began with releasing her first single, You’ll See. “After that I took a break from writing.
I didn’t know what to write on because at the time, I was 15 and had not experienced anything properly to write about. At 16, I realised I didn’t have to experience things to write my lyrics. I then started taking inspiration from other people’s experiences,” the teenager puts in.
Watching rom coms and dancing are her other two loves. Chettri is also an Instagram star in her own right — her live sessions are well-attended. Last year, she performed at the EEMAX Global Awards organised by the Event and Entertainment Management Association.