Shreya Ghoshal, the five-time National Award-winning playback singer, has detailed the meticulous process of transforming her All Hearts Tour — a sprawling 44-city global concert series — into a curated live studio album. Speaking with IANS while travelling for work outside India, Ghoshal revealed how the decision to immortalise the tour emerged from the realisation that her ensemble had performed at some of the world's most iconic venues.

The genesis of the live album

The All Hearts Tour spanned over a year and traversed nearly every continent, accumulating performances at landmark theatres and concert halls. Ghoshal explained, "I think we had such a fantastic journey in this tour because it spanned over a year, and we traveled to every part of the world, almost every possible city which we could have. And we had so much love garnered on the way from the audiences wherever we went and we did some really memorable shows." The sheer emotional and artistic weight of the journey — combined with the distinctive character each venue imparted — prompted the creative decision to preserve select performances in album form.

Curating across legendary stages

The venues themselves carried historical and cultural significance. Ghoshal highlighted the LA Dolby Theatre, a venue synonymous with prestige — it hosted the Academy Awards ceremony that year — and the Fox Theatre in Detroit, where classical singer Lata Mangeshkar had been the first Indian artist to perform. "Each of these venues had a lot of memories," Ghoshal said. "I thought we should make an album which reminds us of these times, not just for the audience members who attended and who could not and also for the band members and all of us who put in our hard work in that."

Reimagining familiar songs

A defining feature of the live album is the fresh arrangement of Ghoshal's signature songs. Rather than reproducing studio recordings, each concert iteration incorporated bespoke orchestration, extended instrumental passages, and subtle vocal nuances that evolved from venue to venue and night to night. "I think what we always try to do is do these songs a little differently from how it is recorded originally," she explained. For instance, her rendition of the popular track "Deewani Mastani" featured a unique arrangement during the tour that, she noted, will not be replicated. "So, if I am singing 'Deewani Mastani' once again, I don't think I will be doing that arrangement ever again. It's just we have moved on from there."

A living archive of performance

The curation process itself posed creative challenges — selecting which performances best represented each venue's acoustic character and audience energy while maintaining cohesion across the album. Ghoshal underscored that every arrangement carried "a little bit of our heart added to it," with additional layers of instrumentation and interpretive choices that rendered each performance singular. "So, I thought it was a great way to remember and keep it recorded somewhere," she concluded, emphasising the album's dual purpose as both a souvenir for attendees and a testament to the collective effort of her touring ensemble.

Release and label partnership

The All Hearts Tour live album has been released under Sony Music India, marking a significant collaboration between the artist and the label to bring the tour's sonic legacy to a broader audience.