Exclusive Stream: Kapil Seshasayee’s Dazzling Takedown of Bollywood Sexism on ‘The Item Girl’

From the wiry, experimental noise leaning influences of his 2018 album A Sacred Bore, Indian producer and songwriter Kapil Seshasayee turned to influences like soul artist Solange and D’Angelo for his latest single “The Item Girl.”

Growing up on Bollywood films and music like most Indian kids, the artist notes how he saw a lot of other aspects of diaspora Indians change, except for this “archaic sexism” that was and continues to be encouraged in Indian pop culture. He says, “The film industry is a prominent vehicle for these songs, and when you see songs with a preoccupation with caste supremacy in their choruses and song titles charting so highly in the west among the diaspora here – it’s no surprise that their negative cultural influence is spread along with it.”

Added with hypnotic electronic elements as well as Seshasayee’s signature, almost unpredictable string-pulling skills, “The Item Girl” shows a contemporary side to the artist. He says there’s noisier stuff on the upcoming, as yet untitled 10-track album he’s working on, but the concept takes aim at Bollywood. Seshasayee adds, “I don’t want to just be slating Bollywood for 10 songs. I want to illuminate what’s worthy of discussion about it, perhaps even what positivity can be gleaned from is influence. But this single, it’s an attack on a really negative trope with a lasting cultural influence.”

Set for late 2020, the album will be recorded with Seshasayee’s live band. Meanwhile, you can hear “The Item Girl” below exclusively a day before its official release on Loner Noise.