When Anita Aysola first heard Nine Inch Nails‘ “Something I Can Never Have,” she knew she needed time to connect sonically and lyrically to the song. Before exploring the Pretty Hate Machine track, the Atlanta-based jazz pianist had already mastered her won brew of Hindustani and Western classical music since her 2008 debut More Than Maybe, paved around an atypical palette penetrated by jazz, blues, classic rock, and traditional Indian.
Aysola’s “Something You Can Never Have” is a new rendering of previous ragas, featuring the Grammy-winning Adam Levy ((Norah Jones, Lizz Wright) on guitar and cellist Dave Eggar (Coldplay, Evanescence). Delicately woven around traditional Indian instrumentation and vocals, Aysola delivers a phantasmic retelling, transporting “Something You Can Never Have” somewhere it has never been.
Aysola spoke to American Songwriter about her classical Indian music background, songwriting, tapping back into earlier influences like Radiohead, Massive Attack, and Portishead, and a new territory of music.
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American Songwriter: Whether you wrote a song or not, there’s always a connection to the lyrics. What was your connection to “Something I Can Never Have” before and after working on it?
Anita Aysola: Typically that would be the case. For me, in all honesty, I was initially taken by the song due to its sonic quality. I have always been drawn to songs and ragas in a minor key and there was something soul stirring about this song that struck me instantly. When I first started working on the cover, I realized early on that I needed to push myself further in order to connect to it lyrically. I imagine this is a process that actors go through as well. I had to dig deeper emotionally to connect to the darker aspects of myself that I found in this song.
I started experimenting with this song a few years ago and then decided to propel the project forward in the spring of 2023, probably before the concept was fully realized. I recorded a version of the vocal then, and it wasn’t quite capturing the essence of the song emotionally. I had to put it aside and revisit it a few months later. The vocal performance had an evolution of its own, and by the time I recorded my final vocal, I felt completely connected to it lyrically and emotionally, in a way that I did not when I initially began the project.
American Songwriter: Sonically, what were some of the elements that you wanted to come across in your version?
AA: I have a background in Hindustani classical music, and somehow in my mind this song felt linked to Raag Puriya Dhanashri, which is a haunting raga with a very unique scale. “Something I Can Never Have” has a similar haunting quality, with its iconic piano riff and evocative melodies. I wanted to challenge and surprise the listener by bringing elements of the raga into the song, and vice versa, while still honoring and serving the original song.
I am incredibly grateful to have worked with guitarist Adam Levy, and cellist Dave Eggar on this track. They both made extraordinary contributions to the track, creating a ghostlike intimacy while also bringing passion and drama to their performances, which can also be felt in the track as a whole.
AS: Thinking back to More Than Maybe (2008 debut) and some of your earlier work, how has songwriting shifted for you throughout the past 15 or more? What kind of songwriter are you now?
AA: I have transformed significantly from my earliest work. For More Than Maybe, I was simply trying to conquer my inner critic and allow myself to write songs even if I hated them, just so that I could push myself to write. As I continued on, I began to experiment with my own influences and enjoyed a lot of genre-bending that utilized my background in Indian classical music and jazz, while sharing my journey as a daughter of Indian immigrants and as a mother.
Lately, I feel like I have been returning home to the styles of music I loved listening to growing up, the kind of music that makes my heart stop. And I am trying to connect so deeply with that in my writing, so much so that I’m pushing myself beyond how I used to define myself as an artist and songwriter. I also have been learning more about production, which has now begun to influence my songwriting tremendously.
AS: What songs/music are you gravitating toward now?
AA: These days I am gravitating towards some of my earlier influences—Radiohead, Massive Attack, Zero 7, Björk—music that I always loved, but didn’t necessarily think I could create. Now that I am understanding the vocabulary of this music more deeply, I have been returning to it with a new perspective. I now feel empowered to create the sounds and the tracks that I want. The songwriting and the production have now been working hand in hand, which is a wonderful creative space to be living in.
AS: This seems like the beginning of a new chapter for you now. What’s next?
AA: I am working on my next album. I have been experimenting with writing new songs and producing them in a more alternative, electronic genre. This is new and exciting territory for me. This Nine Inch Nails cover definitely feels like a bridge between my former global, jazz direction into what is to come, a darker moodier, alternative vibe. I am excited to explore this album concept fully and share additional singles and a full-length album in the coming months.
Photo: Shervin Lainez
