Exclusive Stream: The Earth Below Goes from Sparse to Haunting on ‘Patient Man’

The last time Bengaluru-bred, Mumbai-based Deepak Raghu previewed his third EP Dreams Of A Thousand Stillness, the drummer, guitarist and vocalist said the themes were largely introspective. “I’ve been living with my girlfriend for close to three years now, and most of my writing revolves around our relationship and my own personal shortcomings. It’s not really confessional, but more about documenting the process.”

On “Patient Man,” the third release off the EP, which releases on March 23rd, it becomes clear that Raghu ”“ the drummer for stoner/doom band Bevar Sea, doom/death band Dying Embrace and more ”“ stares deep into the abyss. He appends a rancorous wail from New Delhi-based noise artist Ruhail Qaiser aka SISTER as an outro (which was borrowed from their earlier collaboration “Drenched,”) but it’s preceded by a somewhat uneasy but sinister combo of banjo, clarinet and strings from guitarist Nihal Anand.

Mumbai-based drummer, vocalist and guitarist Deepak Raghu. Photo: Goyya

Raghu says of calling on Nihal, the guitarist for instrumental act Stuck In November as well as his own solo singer-songwriter project Fireghost, “Nihal and I, funnily enough, used to live in the same building for a while without knowing each other. He’s a really good songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist.”

Additionally, Dreams Of A Thousand Stillness already features string arrangements from producer-bassist Leslie Charles (part of rock veterans Thermal and A Quarter) on his previous single “Indestructible.” Raghu says of his collaborators, “Basically, they’re all fantastic musicians. ”‹”‹And the fact that they like my work enough to contribute to it, makes it even more special to me.” Would it mean they might be a part of taking The Earth Below live? Raghu says, “”‹I’d like to have a band together at some point to take this out on the road, but no plans as of now.”

Listen to “Patient Man.” Pre-order the EP here.