BITTER:SWEET

Shana Halligan//Kiran Shahani

There is something mesmerizing and indisputable about things in life that come together by the mystery of fate – be it a personal relationship, an artistic endeavor, or a simple matter of being in the right place at the right time. When all three converge, the result is something that goes beyond any realm of possibility …

Such is the story of Los Angeles music duo BITTER:SWEET (Shana Halligan and Kiran Shahani) whose lives seemed to have over-lapped but never crossed until the perfect moment in time. How else can you explain two people who lived one block away from each other, and who recorded just one wall away, who never connected until an anonymous online posting? That is exactly how BITTER:SWEET came to make their intoxicating and playful debut artist album, THE MATING GAME, set for release March 7, 2006 on Quango Music. The beautiful, 11-track work features the extensive musicality of two respected musicians who now exist in perfect harmony.

On the album, Shana and Kiran stay true to their own unique musical souls by embracing everything from the previously untapped jazz qualities of Shana’s voice to Kiran’s love of any type of music and production that “makes your body move.” Songs unfold like little vignettes of romantic interludes and scenes from enchanting films of days gone by on The Mating Game. Fans of Portishead, Zero 7, Serge Gainsbourg, Everything But the Girl and Bjork will fall in love with the album’s sound.

When Kiran (producer, composer) and Shana (vocals, melodies, lyrics, co-producer) met, they were both “not that into” the L.A. music scene. “There was a time when I had even stopped listening to music,” explains Shana. “But sometimes you’re just meant to do things in life...”

As a Southern California native, Shana had just returned home from “having a beautiful experience” in Europe when she decided to answer her first-ever ad for a singer. Not only was it an ad, it was on Craig’s List! The accomplished musician had grown up with music in her blood – her father is eight-time Grammy Award winning composer Dick Halligan of Blood, Sweat & Tears – and she had started her singing career at age seven by performing in films and television commercials. Later on, she performed live throughout the United States and Europe in addition to composing music for television shows and soundtracks (most recently she is featured on the Buckethead album singing a duet with Serj Tankian of System Of A Down).

“I can’t believe I answered an ad,” Shana says now, “but I just did it!” As fate would have it, her call was the first to be answered by music producer and dance music enthusiast Kiran, who, as a founding member of the Supreme Beings of Leisure, was largely responsible for their self-titled debut album (the one that broke the electronic/trip-hop group by selling more than 250,000 copies worldwide).

After breaking away from SBL, Kiran had been toiling away in his studio doing remixes for artists like Marilyn Manson and Angela McClusky (Télépopmusik) in addition to scoring a lot of music for film and television (most recently, he remixed Wayne Newton’s “Viva Las Vegas” for the theme song of The Entertainer). Although he had plenty of work on his hands, Kiran longed to collaborate musically with someone who “had the right chemistry” to match his globally-inspired, finely tuned, and optimistic musical aesthetic. And that’s why he placed an online ad.

“When we met, we agreed to just play some cool music together, while sticking completely to who we were as individuals,” the two later reveal. “The energy around what we did was so natural and fluid, we just kept doing it.” Now each one can’t imagine working without the other. Kiran now admits, “I’d been dreaming about her for a very long time.”

After collaborating, Shana and Kiran discovered that they had the same exact taste in music (even in “guilty pleasure” bands from the ‘70s and ‘80s – you know, the ones you won’t admit unless you really trust someone!). They also discovered that six months prior to meeting, they had recorded just one wall away from each other in the same studio. They also shared numerous friends in common, and even stranger still, had lived one street away from each other, and still had never met … until now.

On The Mating Game, echoes of each musician’s past (present and future) is revealed in infectious songs like the sultry, exotic opening track “Don’t Forget to Breathe,” which sets the tone for the entire album. “Moving Forward” is one of Kiran’s favorites “for its amazing vocal performance,” and is a track that Shana has a deep emotional attachment to. Solid production and a Vegas cool is the calling card of “The Mating Game” with its big band sass and zany James Bond feel. Shana’s father (Dick Halligan) helped to write, arrange and conduct the strings heard on all of the aforementioned songs, as well as the angelic “Bittersweet Faith.”

The lovely yet quieted “Heaven” stands as a bewitching late-night ballad that bids a lover to “stay just a little bit longer.” Whereas, “Our Remains” is a super sexy tune accented by lush lyrics, drum ‘n’ bass beats and stellar downtempo production. Down ‘n’ dirty funk helps define “Overdue,” while a swaggering, dreamy confidence is heard on “Moody.” Overall, Shana’s melodically sweet-and-sexy vocals paired with Kiran’s experimental pop beats and masterful programming make for an album that will stand the test of time.

As luck would have it for BITTER:SWEET, their album found a fitting home on Quango Music Group with label founder Bruno Guez who had originally signed Supreme Beings of Leisure to Palm Pictures. For the The Mating Game, Guez collaborated closely with the pair from the inception of the project to create a shared vision. "Given our past history and Bruno’s experience as creative music director for Cirque Du Soleil, it was a welcome partnership to have him on board as Executive Producer," states Kiran. Quango is a long-established tastemaker label of exotic, globally open-minded music that is renowned for championing artists like Zero 7, Koop, Talvin Singh and Kruder & Dorfmeister, and it continues to break new ground with an international roster of groundbreaking artists like Bliss (Denmark), Cantoma (U.K.), Gecko Turner (Spain) and now BITTER:SWEET (U.S.).