VJDAMUSICMAN UNVEILS THIRD ALBUM “CHAOS ON A CANVAS” ON MAY 12

Emerging musician VJDAMUSICMAN’s third studio album, “Chaos on a Canvas”, is out now via Retrograde Records on May 12, 2023.

Offering up a genre-bending pop record journeying themes of representation from the Indian community to inner queer voices, the record is helmed by lead single “UGLIES,” a 2.5-minute dance banger with consistent flow changes iridescent of the tumultuous road that Indian-Americans face when connecting to their identities. From the villages of Chennai to the colonial alleyways of North Carolina, the grassroots feel and homage to the sights of saris and coconut hair oil and the sounds of kuthu music are utilised to show that regardless of the destination, the complexities of our identities follow.

In the accompanying music video for the lead track, these intersectionalities of identities can be easily seen with the two main characters the song highlights: VJDAMUSICMAN and the Mad Hatter. MusicMan represents the confusion and insecurity that constantly surround culture clashes, as indicated by the mixture of R&B vocals with the heavy cinematic synths present in South Indian soundtracks. The visuals of the dancers performing in Indian garments with kuthu steps amidst the colonial architecture reflect the common experience of first-generation Indian-Americans — “No matter how hard we try to assimilate, we will always be seen as ugly.”

The music video then switches to VJ’s alter ego, Mad Hatter, who encourages confidence and pride in pursuing one’s vulnerability and truth, an often challenging road, as sonically represented by aggressive rap lyrics which are visually represented through one of India’s richest storytelling art forms, Bharatanatyam. It  is commonly associated with elite and educated circles, but we wanted to dismantle the wall that exists between the art form and an uncommon audience.

Serving as a tumultuous follow-up and finale to its predecessors, “Escape the Retrograde” in 2020 and “Kinks & Trauma” in 2021, VJ is set to address identity clash on his new project as he tackles internalised homophobia and heteronormativity one dance number at a time.

VJDAMUSICMAN is a 24-year-old aspiring Indian-American singer-songwriter born and raised in Durham, NC. In 2020, he released his debut album, “Escape The Retrograde,” which was met with positive acclaim. His follow-up EP, “Rangi,” released just a few months later, allowed his audience to understand the versatility he offered as an artist, taking on grief through music. His second album, “Kinks & Trauma,” released in August 2021, had huge commercial success via TikTok and challenged themes of authenticity and vulnerability. His newest offering promises to be more chaotic than ever before!