Thanya Iyer - Rest [EP]

Thanya Iyer shares reflective new EP rest

“Black Baroque; Symphonic Soul; Roberta Flack meets Freak Folk; Post genre pontifications.” – Moses Sumney on KIND for Gold Flake Paint

“The Montreal-based singer-songwriter and violinist’s music feels like an invitation to reflect. Each song recounts not just stumbling and uncertainty, but a sense of motivation.” – Nina Corcoran on KIND for Pitchfork

Thanya Iyer’s acclaimed 2020 full-length KIND was the result of years of touring, connecting with community, and an ethos based in self-love. But her newest release, rest, is approached from a different angle.

“rest is in many ways a reflection of myself, asking the question, “who am I when it all stops?””, explains Iyer, referencing, of course, the early pandemic and its halting effect on the world. Being stuck at home indefinitely allowed Iyer to examine her relationship to rest on a more critical level.

With this newfound downtime, Iyer began to realize an active pursuit of rest, with deliberate and kind intention, eventually turning to back songwriting as part of her new practice. The resultant five songs that comprise rest explore Iyer’s mindful intentions through a graceful amalgam of tender pop with inflections of jazz, backed with orchestral experimentation.