Jeanne Merchant on her new single: It’s an escape from reality

The living room in Merchant home holds a piano a complex and professional sound system and a gaming station in the corner of the TV unit The hardwood floors exude the warmth of the family especially the admiration and playfulness between Jeanne and her husband music composer Salim MerchantThe occasion is the release of Jeannersquos new single Lucky Tonight It came out on April 18 on streaming platforms and YouTube under the Merchant Record labelA vocal coach Jeanne has always been a singer and married Salim in 2004 During the courting years she was steeped in the Jazz circuit ldquoHe and I worked together for a bit and hit it offrdquo she saysTaking a break from her career after they welcomed their daughter she came back into the world of music around 20212022 ldquoSalim was hardly homerdquo she says ldquoand I felt our daughter needed stability so I took a break from concerts and gigs I did venture out once and was away from her for two nights but couldnrsquot bear it So I started giving vocal training classes after a few friends suggested it Itrsquos something I love and I can work with children and adultsrdquoBorn to teachers Jeanne grew up listening to her fatherrsquos recordsmdashEla Fitzgerald Frank Sinatra and Shirley Bassey As she got older she began to develop her own musical taste with artistes such as Chaka Khan Prince and Quincy JonesThe title Lucky Tonight has a clubby ring to it but itrsquos more synthpop One minute into the fourminute track soft rebellion creeps into the melody and cymbals ldquoItrsquos an escape from realityrdquo she explains ldquoNot that your reality isnrsquot cool itrsquos just that sometimes therersquos so much of it You need a fun night out to go out meet your friends and go clubbing Itrsquos a break from the regular and then it slowly slides into the adventurousrdquoThe track is in collaboration with rapperpoet EPR Iyer ldquoHis spoken word poem brings such conviction to the piece I had heard of him through Salim and when I was looking to collaborate I thought he and I would work perfectlyhellip and we didrdquo Lucky Tonight is produced by Anshuman Sharma ldquoAnshuman and I are such a good match Irsquove worked with him before and he knows exactly what I want Itrsquos vital that we mention that they are collaboratorshellip music only works like thatrdquoWhen we finally ask Salim what he thinks about his wifersquos new single he says ldquoI heard it since its inceptionmdashshe and I always discuss when she is writing music At the same time we both do have very different musical sensibilities and tastes So her music is finally hersrdquoSalim and his brother Sulaiman who is the second half of the composer duo have had their success but almost four years ago they formed the label Merchant Records to bring in versatile artists and their music under one umbrella ldquoI wouldnrsquot say we are a record label because I donrsquot like that word I feel itrsquos a music communityrdquo he says ldquoThe label has ensured we donrsquot force anyone to change the way they make music and give preference to someone who has a few thousand likes not just someone who has a million We are proud that people come to us and want to release their single with us because we make sure that their artistic integrity is maintainedrdquoSpeaking about a worrying music trend of music becoming more task orientated Merchant says ldquoOf late I found that much not all music in India feels like a task Something you are forced to make for a movie and not something that you want to say or something that has its own rightful identity I loved what I heard in Amar Singh Chamkila and hope music like that continues to growrdquo Salim is running late for an appointment and is almost out the door when Jeanne remembers he hasnrsquot taken his dabba A little chaos ensues until Jeanne hands him the dabba and Salim leaves with a ldquoBye loverdquoJeanne walks to the piano and indulges us with a live performance of Lucky Tonight