By Ranjini Achuthan
February has gone leaving us with a bunch of stories about satiating tender love, bittersweet relationships, loss of love, odes to nature and flights of imagination along with some hip hop to stir up the otherwise sensitive, emotional trip.
Cul De Sac - Stevie
The phenomenal singer-songwriter from Chennai surprises his listeners with a hip hop track that takes on the drill music sub-genre and delivers it in style. The track is groovy with a hook that lingers. Fast paced, some healthy narcissism and an antithesis-to-the-title sort of cutting lyrical progression; that is Cul De Sac for you. Stevie teams up with Bangalore-based producer Rohan Kamath from RMC Records for his first outing of the year.
Khoya Sa - Sanjeeta Bhattacharya
Sanjeeta dishes out a pop/RnB ballad that talks about an undeniable attraction between two sub-urban Indian women who are confused by the cultural notions of what constitutes conventional and heteronormative love. The music video features singer songwriter Tanmaya Bhatnagar alongside Sanjeeta as the protagonists. The track features Sitar, a very crunchy bass and guitar and has been produced by Aman Sagar.
Roz Roz - The Yellow Diary
Yellow Diary, the alternative rock band from Mumbai collaborates with the well-known talented singer Shilpa Rao for their brand-new fusion single Roz-Roz. The song talks about the importance of being honest, open and communication in a relationship and the struggles when people stop trying. “Would you do whatever it takes to keep love alive or would you burn away?”
Apollo 7+4 - Raghav
Mumbai-based guitarist Raghav debuts with an instrumental post rock track that takes you on an adventure in the vast outer space among the beautiful stars, planets, galaxies and nebulae. Says Raghav. “It is named after the spaceship Apollo 11 and the breakdown 7+4 is a representative of the two time signatures 7/8 and 4/4 used in the song.”
Mustard Yellow - Jeremiah de Rozario
Jeremiah declares that the colour of his heart is a shade of Mustard Yellow. Defying norms, reaching a point where you know what you are or want to be forms the underlying emotion of the song. Says Jeremiah, “I hope the song allows my listeners to answer the question, of what the colour of their heart truly is.” The track is indie folk pop in all its essence that progresses from minimal to a growing soundscape that ends in a harmonic, chorus infused crescendo.
Butterflies - Krishna.K, AKR
Butterflies is dream pop at its best with vocals by Krishna K who mouths euphonious non-lexical vocables and takes the listener through the journey that the butterflies take up on their “chariots of gold.” Krishna collaborates with Anniroodh Kumararaja a.k.a AKR for the production duties and it shows with a richer soundscape in Krishna’s seventh outing as a singer-songwriter.
Iyarkai - Rijul Chakraborthy
Iyarkai is an ode to nature. The song traverses the immense joy, admiration and wonder that the protagonist experiences during his travels and tryst within the lap of nature. The track has a rich and layered arrangement with sounds of nature; birds chirping, piano and violin flourishes and vocal harmonies that leads to jazz detours. Iyarkai features Priyesh Sivan on vocals.
Winter - Akanksha Sethi
Winter talks about unrequited love. The soft ballad with evocative vocals and passionate lyrics carries the uncertainty and resentment but also hope, forgiveness and patience that one feels in the aftermaths of the kind of love that lasts only a short season. Says Akanksha, “This song is almost like a love letter we never sent.”
Saira - Keethan
Saira is an ode to unspoken words, the pain and the love that once was. Says Keethan, “If only words didn’t fail you at a moment you needed them the most. Saira is everything you want to say to a special someone when the universe tears you apart”. Keethan is known for his blend of classical and pop music while keeping his Indian roots at the core of his compositions. Saira sits well in this space and makes for a smooth listen.
Break Free - When Chai Met Toast
The fifth single from the four-piece neo folk band from Cochin is out and is garnering rave reviews for the music video directed by Ria Singh that portrays the bittersweet relationship between a father and daughter. Says the band, “Break Free is a song of immense love that leads to loss, helplessness but always, always liberation. It’s a song about every relationship there ever has been and every kind of love that there ever will be.”