There’s a quiet shift underway in how young people are engaging with music, moving away from passive listening toward something more immersive, more intentional. Devotional music, once seen as niche or traditional, is finding new resonance with global audiences. And for Premanjali Dasi, this isn’t a trend so much as a return to something essential.”Everyone is looking for something higher, something to take shelter of in this difficult world,” she says. “Some know it, some don’t.”Raised in a Bhakti community in Australia, Premanjali didn’t arrive at this understanding later in life, she grew up with it. It was only in her teenage years, when she began to see how differently others lived, that the choice became conscious. “That was when I had to actively decide that this is the life I wanted, which I did. And it’s the best decision I ever made,” she adds, laughing.Despite her ease today as a kirtan artiste and teacher, confidence didn’t come naturally. The turning point, she says, came from the people around her. “There were a few key people who really pushed me out of my comfort zone and put me on stage without much choice. That’s when I became more confident, and also when I started getting noticed.”But for Premanjali, kirtan was never about being noticed. Unlike the jazz and pop covers she enjoyed in school, devotional music existed in a completely different space. “It really is the mantras and prayer that are moving people. We’re just the vessel sharing them.”That distinction between performance and participation is perhaps what’s drawing more young people toward kirtan today. In a world defined by speed and distraction, the appeal lies in something slower, more intentional. “The biggest difference is prayer and intention,” she explains. “Chanting mantras really does bring mental peace.”Through her platform, Learn Kirtan, Premanjali works with students across the world. Her approach is less about technical perfection and more about unlocking confidence. “The voice is very vulnerable,” she says. “But because of that, it opens the door for so much prayer, depth and emotion. I feel everyone actually loves singing — they just need someone to believe in them.”Her debut single Shyama Anna, filmed in Kerala’s lily fields, blends traditional kirtan with influences like jazz and blues. For her, it’s less calculated fusion than authenticity. “If it felt authentic to just sing traditional kirtan, I would have done that. But I wanted to write my own songs, and that’s what felt true.”With new music in the works- English songs, Hindi songs, mantras across genres, her message remains simple: “Devotional music is just music with prayer and intention to serve. It’s all about perspective.”