Exclusive Premiere: Skylight Vision’s Stargazing New Track ‘Perfect Knife’

You can’t fault Pune’s Skylight Vision for taking on a galactic, psychedelic prog soundscape that’s similar to the likes of Steven Wilson and his band, Porcupine Tree on their 2014 self-titled debut EP or their 2015 single “Reverse Gravity of a Dying Star.” Vocalist Gaurav Tophakhane says, “We never consciously make an effort to sound like them and we tend to focus more on the melody and content of the song. Most of our songs are straightforward and easy on ears.”

Their new single “Perfect Knife” features a tad more experimentation, leaning into sing-along melodies, sharp guitar leads and a measured vocal delivery. The band, which added drummer Anurag Sawangikar earlier this year, worked on the song at jams and on stage after guitarist Aniket Ganoo brought forth an idea. Earlier this month, they recorded the song. Tophakhane says about the lyrics, “It’s about feeling trapped in this meaningless predictable rat race where you have lost all your moments; when you realize it’s too late for everything, but still dream about escaping reality.”

Formed in late 2013, Skylight Vision have so far carefully chosen the competitions they want to be a part of–from being mentored by electro pop duo Shaa’ir + Func on Ray Ban Never Hide Sounds in 2014 to emerging as finalists at the Road to Converse Rubber Tracks and Bandcubator contests in 2015. They’ve clinched a few more gigs in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, but Tophakhane says they don’t need competition fame to get mileage. “If you have good music in your bag and right contacts to use, gigs flow easily. Or at least that’s how Indie market works, I think.”

But for now, the band wants to focus on tracking their upcoming full-length album, slated for release in December. Tophakhane says, “Once the album gets out, we’re planning to do a launch tour where we can play in as many cities as we can, so that our music can reach to wider crowds.”