Ditty

The word "Ditty" could be translated into German as "Liedchen (little song)" - but Aditi "Ditty" Veena, who was born and raised in New Delhi, does not warble nice trivialities. Instead, the artist and climate protection activist deals with the "inseparable connection between music and nature", writing "gentle and poetic protest songs that urge us to take better care of our planet - and ourselves."

She delivers her lyrics in a calm, clear voice, switching from reciting to singing and back again. Laurie Anderson comes to mind, Kae Tempest or Patti Smith.
Ditty dresses her songs in sparse, very haunting arrangements that create a lot of intimacy and suit her warm voice very well.
In addition to delicate fingerpicking on the acoustic guitar and restrained keyboard sounds, you can also hear birds singing, the sound of the sea or of a cricket.
Ditty has been living in Berlin since 2022 and has gathered a top-class band around her with drummer Andi Haberl (The Notwist) and Johannes Weber (Ilgen Nur, Jungstötter).

The five songs on her new EP "Skin" (Clouds Hill Records) Ditty recorded in various places in her Indian homeland, whose musical tradition for example influenced The Beatles over half a century ago, and whose peculiarities have also shaped the thirty-something: "I grew up in a colonized country," she explains, "where I speak two languages and got to know a contradictory coexistence of cultures." So it seems plausible that the English-language tracks on "Skin" will be followed in the near future by another EP called "Kaali", whose lyrics were mostly written in Hindi.

But no matter what language she uses, Ditty's message is one of connection, mindfulness and emotion; whether she is planting trees, campaigning for clean drinking water or offering a new perspective on India with her songs, where "an indie scene is just coming to life."