Exclusive Stream: Dreamhour’s Groovy New Synth Pop Single ‘Safe On Your Own’

Dreamhour (from left) Gunzan Pradhan and Debo Sanyal. Photo: Shrivardhan Sugumar

For his young age, 21-year-old Debojyoti Sanyal has dabbled in everything from hip hop [with rapper Xenon Phoenix] to electro pop [singing for Swedish producer Nightcall] and metal [handling synth duties for Darjeeling band When Stories End], and now works on pop that has one foot in the future and one in the past with Dreamhour. Says Sanyal of his upcoming EP The Unfinished Story of the Unknown Band, “I wanted to produce a modern synthpop EP with inspiration from that futuristic decade of the Eighties.”

Yesteryear icons Michael Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode and more were all on Indian televisions for much longer [and later] compared to Western countries, which explains why someone like Sanyal loves Eighties and Nineties pop. “It was extremely nostalgic, even though I probably never heard them about eight or 10 years ago and it was unapologetically melodic yet minimal in terms of arrangement and composition,” he says.

The first single ”“ “Safe On Your Own” ”“ is a throwback to the well-paced, moody pop of the Eighties, with a touch of guitars [courtesy of Dreamhour bandmate Gunzan Pradhan] and bright synth patterns. Sanyal wrote the song in August last year, constantly retooling it until it became the perfect choice to release as the first single off his upcoming EP The Unfinished Story of the Unknown Band.

Sanyal, who started producing music as Dreamhour in late 2012 out of his hometown of Siliguri, currently studies audio production in Pune. The new EP was made with analog synth and drum emulators that are “either free or extremely cheap soft versions of their hardware counterparts” and guitarist Pradhan. It also features a collaboration with Mumbai-based composer Arjun Iyer [from space-rock band Gumbal]. Says Sanyal of Iyer, “He’s, in my opinion, one of the most genius yet underrated artists in the Indian indie scene. I had to do a song with him, sooner or later.”

Even though he’s had apprehensions about taking Dreamhour live in the past, Sanyal is gearing up for a July launch gig for his EP with Pradhan and an additional keyboardist on stage. He says, “I wanted to take this project live but didn’t wanted to just play a backing track and sing along with it. I wanted someone who would be as interested in this project as I am.”

Listen to “Safe On Your Own”