Ontario band ARUNA & THE SIRENS weaves the political and the personal in original songs written by lead singer Aruna Antonella Handa. Chris Adriaanse (upright bass) and Raphael Roter (drums) create an intuitive foundation with sopranos Alejandra Ballon, Caitlin Holland adding harmonic texture and heft with Aruna's contralto singing lead. All band members are degreed musicians, having studied opera, music improvisation, jazz and/or musical theatre.
The band's sparse instrumentation of voice, bass and drums, permits ready collaboration with other musicians and recent appearances include Doug Tielli (guitar, trombone, vocals), Tzevi Sherman (slide guitar), Dave Eggar (cello), Michael Broadhead (bass), and Roa Lee (gayageum).
The band's first single, the Factor funded "Have You Seen My Sister?", was a response to the global surge in gender-based violence, and earned a nomination for Single of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards (2024). The latest single, "City Hotel" (release date October 18/24), the first off their upcoming concept album Of Bones & Addicts, documents racist attacks fuelled by addictions to drugs and alcohol in a country ballad.
Under former names (Alluvial Plain, Artists of the Aurora), the band has played festivals including Canadian Music Week, Open Tuning, and Nuit Blanche and in clubs in Toronto such as the Monarch Tavern, Burdock Hall and the Tranzac Club.
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