Monsoon

Monsoon, drawing from British roots yet steeped in Asian traditions, served as an early testing ground for singer Sheila Chandra and her spouse, the producer Steve Coe, ahead of Chandra’s individual work across the 1980s and 1990s. Although the group’s material followed ordinary pop conventions, the inclusion of Indian instrumentation together with Chandra’s exceptional vocal delivery conjured visions of Eastern locales rarely glimpsed on British charts after George Harrison’s Beatles-period explorations. “Ever So Lonely” climbed to number 12 on the U.K. listings in April 1982, which in turn led to the album Third Eye appearing the following year. Urged by their label to persist in chasing hits, Chandra and Coe pushed back and instead aligned themselves with the small Indipop Records. Chandra’s solo path commenced in 1984 through the release Out on My Own.