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London-based six-piece band KHIYO present unrestrained inventiveness and a sense of adventure with mind-boggling execution that includes flourishes of jazz, folk and rock shot through traditional Bengali music. KHIYO is named after a letter of the Bengali alphabet, the ?Khiyo' ( ??? ). It is a unique letter that, whilst being a combination of two letters, has an identity of its own. Similarly, though the band's members draw on many different musical backgrounds, the amalgamation of the whole has a singularly identifiable sound. The band was formed in 2007 as a collaboration between British-Bangladeshi vocalist & Tara Associate Artist Sohini Alam and composer Oliver Weeks. The band's sound mixes powerful and expressive interpretations of the classics with dynamic and original arrangements that draw on South Asian and Western folk and classical traditions, rock, blues and jazz. Since their headlining appearance at the Purcell Room at Alchemy 2013, Khiyo have developed a reputation as a powerful live band. They released their self-titled debut album in 2014 and signed to ARC Music in 2015. The album received excellent reviews and was featured as one of Songlines' 'Top of the World' albums in October 2015. In 2013, the band was at the centre of controversy in Bangladesh about the music video for their version of Rabindranath Tagore's Amar Shonar Bangla, also the national anthem of Bangladesh, as a result of which the song went viral amongst Bengalis worldwide. Sohini Alam is currently also touring with Akram Khan's critically acclaimed show UNTIL THE LIONS.