‘‘Power of Love“ by Shayan Italia is ‘Global Lockdown Choir’

Spreading like wild fire on Facebook, the Zoroastrian Parsi Gods seem to be giving a big thumbs up to Shayan Italia’s cover version of Power of Love. The beautiful 80’s hit has been recreated by Shayan Italia, a well-respected Indian-born multi-award International winning musician and entrepreneur, with many fellow Parsis sitting across the world using technology to get the song going. Shayan came into the limelight in 2018 being crowned “Global Indian Of The Year” for his heartfelt rendition of the Indian National Anthem, an ode to his late Mum, which stands as the most viewed anthem the world over today.

The Power Of Love, his second heartfelt music initiative is dedicated to those away from their loved ones during the lockdown period and features the astounding “Global Lockdown Choir”. Describing the unusual circumstances of the world and the thought behind the song, Shayan says, “For every project I take on, there has to be a message greater than the artist/performer/writer etc. There has to be a higher purpose. For me there is no greater POWER than the POWER OF LOVE between two living things: human beings or animals. A Mum is a Mum for everyone (be it for you or a dog or even a whale), and a loved one is a loved one for every living thing. To enforce that ethos, I felt I could do a unique yet intimate arrangement that may inspire people in these times of hardship in all of our lives.”

Shayan elaborates how this beautiful project unfolded, “I came to know of a fellow Parsi vocalist Delraaz Bunshah a few months ago. I loved her demeanour as a person and I’ve been meaning to work with her ever since. I was also insistent that the STEM of the project originate from the Zoroastrian Parsi community, which I believe to be one of the most artistic and creative communities pan India and the world over. So I sat down one day, at home, turned on the house lights and started. After completing it I shared it with a friend, who instantly loved it and one connection organically led to another. Within 72 hours vocalists from various parts of the world were assembling.”

He further adds, “It took a total of 2 weeks from concept to put this entire initiative together, coordinating 56 vocalists from various parts of the globe on a crappy 3G/4G network, making them sing the song like 15 times across Zoom, FaceTime and WhatsApp sessions with massive dropouts.” Unfortunately Shayan faced fibre cuts from Internet providers during each recording session adding to the complexities. When asked why music he says, “Music has always possessed the power to spread a message across the globe incredibly fast, and connect with people individually on a very deep level.”

Shayan Italia has arranged, produced, performed the song “Power Of Love” on piano and sung the same live featuring the enigmatic Delraaz Bunshah as lead vocalist.