Hear Thermal And A Quarter’s Acoustic-Driven Uplifting Song ‘Tilt’

Just as the world shut down and grappled with Covid-19, Bengaluru’s seasoned rockers Thermal And A Quarter released A World Gone Mad in March. Guitarist and vocalist Bruce Lee Mani says, “It was intense labor, for four years and it was emotionally very heavy to get that album out.”

Just as the pandemic brought about a shift in perspectives and willed a change in moods of the world’s populace, the band – Mani, drummer Rajeev Rajagopal, bassist Leslie Charles and guitarist Tony Das – decided that their next move would reflect that. The new single “Tilt” is about looking up, getting positive and in trademark TAAQ ways, about having fun.

The song was written by Mani sometime in late April, as he sat at home, away from his usual studio and practice setup of amps and more. “It’s not soundproofed at home, so I play acoustic often. I had the lyrics and it just felt right to have it acoustic. Tony does play electric on it and there are some production elements by Leslie as well,” Mani adds.

At the time of writing “Tilt,” the frontman was “slammed with work” owing to the band’s music school Taaqademy moving completely online and enrolling more students. “It’s my creative process. I feel I’m able to do more when I’m already doing more,” Mani says with a laugh. Tying together twisted wordplay, “Tilt” features a more cerebral first verse, followed by an emotion-tugging second verse. There’s references to comic book hero Superman but also a line that states “I love the shape of you I see.” It’s not a very intentional nod to pop artist Ed Sheeran but Mani says, “I think it’s fine, it fits very well.”

The song arrives a few months after the band resumed jamming with a gap of nearly a hundred days. “That’s our longest break in 24 years,” Mani says. Although they did play a few private shows for the digital streaming format, TAAQ are unlikely to play a ticketed public livestream gig just yet. Mani adds, “The digital concerts often feel like a well-produced YouTube video at the end of the day. We’ve decided let’s just wait till we can play a real gig.”

Listen to “Tilt” below. Stream on more platforms here.