Ankur

Naysayers who claim that there is no “scene” as far as Indian rock is concerned, would do well to listen to this one. Jannat ”“ the debut from singer-songwriter Ankur Tewari ”“ is easily one of the best Indian albums so far this year. Tewari wears many hats besides the one he is usually spotted in ”“ he’s a scriptwriter, director, actor, among other things ”“ and this album, similarly, explores a lot of different sounds. So there’s the title track, which alternates hushed verses with a soaring chorus. And then, there is the album-opening ”˜Chand Chahiye’ which starts off with muted arpeggios before Tewari’s warm vocals and sparkling guitars enter the mix, to be followed soon by a bouncy reggae beat. ”˜Bekhabar,’ on the other hand, is a flamenco-flavoured lovelorn ballad (some great guitaring on this one, by Xain). ”˜Shehar Mein’ is a bright and upbeat track, and ”˜Tujhe Jaane Bina’ is a lullaby-ish love song.

While it would be easy to look at Jannat as only another uncomplicated pleasant-sounding album, that would be being grossly unfair ”“ to yourself. For, then, you would be missing out on its sheer brilliance. Listen carefully and you will discover beautifully-written songs meeting a meticulously-produced sound. Jannat is right up there with Swarathma and the Raghu Dixit Project’s self titled albums, which are amongst my favourite Indian albums of recent years.

Key Tracks: ”˜Jannat,’ ”˜Chand Chahiye,’ ”˜Tujhe Jaane Bina’