Wed Jan 07 10:59:02 UTC 2026: ### Headline: Chennai’s Music Scene Tunes into “Deep Listening” Sessions
The Story
In Chennai, a new movement is taking root, challenging the prevalence of short-form content and algorithm-driven music consumption. Composer-producer Tenma, along with arts manager Mukesh Amaran, are pioneering “listening sessions” at Vinyl & Brew community cafe. These sessions, inspired by similar events in other countries, aim to cultivate conscious listening by playing full albums, sparking discussions, and foregrounding marginalized voices through their label, Mother Tongue Music. The sessions encourage participants to engage deeply with music, understand its impact, and foster a slow, deliberate community around diverse sounds.
The first sessions have already proven successful, featuring diverse music, including the collaborative album “The Ancestral Well” and Aphex Twin’s “Selected Ambient Works 85–92”. These sessions are designed to resist passive consumption, focusing on artiste, process, context, and listeners’ inward responses.
Key Points
- Tenma and Mukesh Amaran are leading the listening session movement in Chennai.
- The listening sessions are held at Vinyl & Brew, a community cafe.
- Mother Tongue Music, a label foregrounding marginalized voices, is connected to the sessions.
- Sessions feature full album listening, followed by discussions.
- The next session on January 10, 2026, will feature Joni Mitchell’s “The Hissing of Summer Lawns”.
Key Takeaways
- There is a growing desire for deeper engagement with music beyond short-form content.
- Community-based listening experiences can foster a more conscious and appreciative audience.
- Foregrounding marginalized voices and diverse musical styles can enrich a local music scene.
- The focus on “deep listening” aims to cultivate critical thinking and emotional responses to music.
- The success of these listening sessions could inspire similar initiatives in other cities.
First Piper 