Indie-Folk Artist Vishruti Releases Plaintive Debut Single ‘Changing Cities, Reprise’

By her own admission, singer-songwriter Vishruti Bindal (who goes by her first name) has been avoiding putting her music out. She’s trained to be a sound engineer and producer in the U.K., took on artist and event management in Bengaluru and New Delhi and is now entrenched in the music business world in Valencia, following a Master’s degree at Berklee College of Music in Spain.

Vishruti says a lot of encouragement to release her debut single “changing cities, reprise” and her upcoming EP changing cities came from Berklee, including the Valencia-based label Disrupcion Records. “My experiences in music have empowered me and made me more confident in myself, and it seemed like the right time to finally put music out,” she says.

Although the piano-led track is not part of her upcoming three-track EP, it was created in 2017 during a trip to the hill station town Munnar. It was her last trip before she moved to Wolverhampton from Bengaluru. “It was my second big move, first one being from Delhi to Bangalore in 2015 and that’s how the concept of the EP changing cities came about,” Vishruti says. Described in a press statement as a track which “talks about the difficult confrontations that come with moving to a new place,” there’s a wistful lamenting in Vishruti’s sparse vocals, adding eeriness to the song.

Originally woven out of “cool synth sounds and electric piano” with guitar ace and composer Samar Mehdi, “changing cities, reprise” was produced by Michael Shanks, with songwriter Mateo Falgas featuring on the track. Vishruti also called on Mumbai singer-producer Kanishk Seth and Singaporean producer Nicholas Phang to helm the project as recording engineers. “I was definitely quite insecure about how I sounded on the microphone. But with Michael’s support and kindness, I can say I fell in love with my voice and my song again,” Vishruti says.

Changing cities EP will feature songs like “skyline” and play up an alternative/indie folk sound, aided by string arrangements, slide guitars, ukulele (Vishruti has named her’s L’uke and D’uke) and more. In addition to Seth contributing vocals on the EP, the upcoming material will also feature Bengaluru keyboardist Samhita Nagaraj, Michael Lucarelli helming strings, drummer and percussionist Pedrinho Augusto and vocals from Mallory Wynne.

The first single from changing cities is slated for release in September, followed by the full EP release in October. Vishruti adds, “I am also working with Agrani Thakuri Jha, a Nepal based Illustrator, on some videos that will be scheduled to release in a few weeks as well.”

Listen to “changing cities, reprise” below. Stream the song on more platforms here.