“There is an embrace to Merinda Dias-Jayasinha’s voice – it is an open palm for one to rest within.”
– Josephine Mead

Merinda Dias-Jayasinha is a unique genre-crossing Australian vocalist, recognised for preternatural intonation, creative versatility and sweetness and variety of tone, whether in a haze of vocal layers or a single heartfelt lyric.

Multi-talented and perennially pluralistic as a performer, composer and improviser, her music slips fluidly between genres and beyond into other disciplines, with recent projects exploring the nuance of her queer and diaspora identities installation, and oral history. While on home turf as a singer of songs, her debut album as a leader-composer, Sense, was released in 2022 to national critical acclaim.

In demand as a collaborator, Merinda’s voice is just as at home on a Sampology track as in a tower of reclaimed pianos in a remote Australian forest. Merinda performs regularly in leading jazz venues and festivals across Australia, and has released music with a myriad of unique collaborative ensembles: a quartet of voices and strings Meridians (MADE NOW MUSIC, 2018); trombone-saxophone-voice trio Strong Cotton Socks (ABC Jazz, 2020); and layered improvisation trio FIM (2024). Her voice adorns acclaimed recordings ranging from contemporary classical (Singing Stone, ABC Classics) to the tendrils that reach from jazz into avant-choral (Invenio Singers); indie (The Rest Is Silence); ambient minimalism (Claire Cross’s Sleep Cycle) and dance (Don Glori; Sampology).

Recent works have spilled into other forms. Dias-Jayasinha’s interest in text and vocal layering has spawned two works exploring her Sri Lankan-Australian heritage: The grey area is an audio journey through family oral history, The blue area a reconstructed bedroom space in which layered inner monologues surround the artist as she dresses in a saree. Frequent cross-artform collaboration brought her work to sound design (Siobhan MacKenna’s Rhythmic Fictions); theatre (Chamber Made’s Little Operations); video art (Freya McGrath’s The Receiver); digital art (H_ME W_RK Collective’s Digital Landscapes); and dance (Zöe Bastin’s That which was once familiar).

“She has a dedication to stretching musical boundaries… She does not surround herself with safety nets… The hallmark is the determination of Dias-Jayasinha to allow her collaborators to be themselves, and for all of them to take creative flight.” – MUSIC TRUST

“The pillar of Merinda’s disarmingly unwavering voice allows for a gorgeous texture of sound and silence from her beautiful ensemble, with every choice adding to the imagery and intimacy of the song.” – GIAN SLATER