Anilah

Residing on the west coast of British Columbia, Anilah is the solo project of composer and vocalist Dréa Drury. For the first 18 years of her life, she lived in a rural village of 50 people in the heart of the Kootenay Mountains. Her experiences there, as well as her love for nature, remote wilderness, and the world of the elements, has inspired her to write music which directly reflects their influence.
From an early age, Dréa has been fascinated with the therapeutic aspects of sound and music. This led her to study psychoacoustic sound design, music therapy, and the healing potential of the voice with mentors such as Silvia Nakkach, Shweta Jhaveri, Tom Kenyon, and the late Ali Akbar Khan. These teachers helped to develop a relationship to music that was less focused on aesthetics, style, and technique, and more on creating sounds and melodies that can effect the deep emotional landscape of the listener. In other words, music that can invoke different states of consciousness and emotional catharsis.
“For me, the experience of composing music is akin to weaving a tapestry. The overall structure of the composition is the loom. The vocal melodies are the threads that, layer by layer, create new patterns of experience or catharsis within the listener. Music can be medicine. Not only in terms of how it impacts us emotionally, but how it entrains the nervous system depending on the intent behind it’s creation. It can also be an invitation into an experience that is profoundly life changing, one that expands our consciousness and connects us to an innate web of belonging.”
- Dréa Drury / ANILAH
In 2015, Anilah collaborated with Einar Selvik (Wardruna, and History Channel Vikings composer) to create a remix of her title track “Warrior,” which is a stunning blend of contemporary songwriting and traditional Norwegian folk instrumentation. Since this release, she has continued to experiment with an approach to writing music that revolves around the power of the voice and the use of minimalist composition. Her work has been featured on season 6 of History Channel “Vikings”, and CBC’s “New Eden” series.
Anilah’s most recent collaboration is with “Wavepaths” (designed by neuroscientist Mendel Kaelen and musician Brian Eno), a UK based company that is creating adaptive music for guided psychedelic psychotherapy.
Her new album “CHRYSALIS” is now out on all platforms, you can listen to it HERE.