Draped in a pink saree, adorned with a floral headpiece and donning a bindi, Aaradhna stands beneath the shade of a mighty mango tree. Her voice carries a silent conversation with the tree—a song that moves something deep within every Indian’s heart.
A melody sung from the Mango Tree
A swarm of bees humming in harmony
A mango blooms, honey drips down the leaves
And off into an ocean of ecstasy
“Everything I do will always reflect where my father is from.”
“My father is from Kasbapar, Navsari, Gujarat," Aaradhna Jayanti Patel, an Indian-Samoan singer, shares her journey of the song with The Indian Weekender.
Born in Porirua, Wellington, in 1983, Aaradhna grew up in a culturally rich household with her Indian father from Gujarat, and Samoan mother. She began her career in music at the age of 20, drawing inspiration from her multicultural upbringing.
"It was vibrant, unique, fun, real, musical, loud, full of the best food, traditional yet creative, caring, and loving," she says of her Indian-Samoan roots.
Though Aaradhna acknowledges the challenges she faced growing up as an Indian-Samoan child, she expresses pride in her heritage. “I had my fair share of feeling out of place sometimes because I never felt I belonged to one group.”
“I was in between two worlds, but my parents taught me to be proud and stand firm in our roots,” she added.
With that support, Aaradhna grew up with pride in her heart for her blended heritage—a sentiment reflected in all of her albums and songs. Her raw, earthy compositions resonate deeply because each word is embedded with the meaning of belonging to one’s homeland or taking pride in who you are.
Eight years after topping the Kiwi charts with her 2016 album Brown Girl, Aaradhna has embraced what she calls the "power of vulnerability." In her anthem Brown Girl, she sings:
I'm more than the colour of my skin,
I'm a girl that likes to sing,
All I know is what's within,
Not just a brown girl in the ring.
This unapologetic authenticity flows into her latest album, Sweet Surrender. For the first time, Aaradhna takes full creative control, crafting tracks that are honest, raw, and deeply personal.
“Love will always be at the forefront of everything I am,” she says about her journey with this album.
The album is about being real with one’s feelings and thoughts, a creation that embodies the essence of letting go and being yourself—a "sweet surrender."
Aaradhna recalls writing her first R&B ballad at the age of 10, leading to her gold-certified debut album I Love You in 2006. Over the past years, Aaradhna taught herself to play instruments, building the foundation for each track on Sweet Surrender.
On a recent "soul trip" to India, Aaradhna shot visuals for Sweet Surrender. She visited West Bengal for the album shoot.
“My heart was always wanting to return, and a lot of the visuals I had imagined were always in India.”
She describes the Indian land, the nature, history, and the calm amidst the chaos. The beeping horns, vibrant colours, warmth, and magic of India were calling out to her.
India is not the only feeling that fills her music; the Samoan culture, because of her mother’s Samoan roots, also influences her art, making her songs a true masterpiece.
“The one [song] that sits closest to me is Beautiful Ones. Because that song is for my beautiful mother. I will never forget her.”
For many years, Aaradhna would work late into the night, continuing until the sun rose. The quiet of the night provided the perfect environment for creativity, free from distractions. The songs were created on either a keyboard or guitar as the base, with vocals and all instrumental layers recorded using Pro Tools.
She spent days developing each song, adding more or sometimes taking away, layering bit by bit for six years. In the final year of completing the album, she brought in other musicians to add more textures to the songs.
“And then I got it mixed and mastered. Then I sat on the album for another three years. Now it’s out.”
Aaradhna is currently focused on pushing her latest album to new heights, with several upcoming shows lined up. She will perform at The Roots show in Tauranga on December 30th, followed by three shows with LAB and Stan Walker in January. In March, she will take the stage at the Homegrown Festival, alongside a number of other performances that will continue to showcase her unique musical style.
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