New Music: From Guwahati Electropop to New Delhi Psychedelic

“Moon” by Banat Kaur Bagga

“Moon” single artwork by Drishali Motwani

While her previous exploits included giving a singer-songwriter twist to Punjabi folk music, Mumbai-based Banat Kaur Bagga’s debut single leads her to ask emotional questions owing to her “novice adult” status, as she calls it. She adds, “I wrote the entire song in 10 minutes flat with extremely substandard vocabulary. And then the next night I had the melody for the entire song.” She assures that the English singer in her exists alongside the girl who grew up learning Punjabi folk and sufi songs.

Forgive Me, I’m a Dreamer by Searomantics

 
Guwahati electropop duo Searomantics, who’ve been around for less than a year, aimed for the studio before stage. Their ethereal synthpop sound ”“ provided by Aru Tisso ”“ is surrounded by a raw drum sound, while vocalist Priyanuj Mazumdar drawls on about late-night love, turning to more of what they call “happy-sad pop” on the dancefloor-friendly “Love is Exploding in the Neon Sky.” The three-track EP also features dreamy guitars on the lovelorn “Baby, The Universe Exists In You.”

“Jamunar Nila Joley” by Vishal J Singh

The Assamese, Mumbai-based master of guitar at avant-garde project Amogh Symphony pools together yet another bunch of talented artists for his new single. That includes Amogh Symphony bandmate Andrey Sazonov providing woodwinds, vocalist-guitarist Siddharth Basrur, violinist Ajay Jayanthi and vocals by his mother and (now) regular collaborator Kasturi Nath Singh on vocals. The world music-leaning Assamese song is a sprawling recollection of infant Krishna playing along the banks of the Yamuna river.

“King of the Castle” by Switcheroo

Bengaluru rockers Switcheroo have been dominating the college rock scene and scored a few club shows (including Mumbai last week), so the best way to capitalize on that kind of attention has to be a single. The music video and lyrics for “King of the Castle” revolves around a game of cards gone wrong, the only difference is they can beat each other up about it, which is pretty close to what to expect when you’ve got testosterone-fuelled rock-meets-nu-metal grooves.

Jacques in the Box by Jack in the Box

While New Delhi rock band Menwhopause have just released their long-awaited third album Neon Delhi, their original vocalist ”“ Sarabjit Chadha, who was the voice on their 2011 album Easy ”“ has also (coincidentally) released his debut EP Jacques in the Box, with help from drummer and producer Paul Schneiter and a flawless mix by record engineer Miti Adhikari. The project, called Jack In the Box, is expectedly mind-bending but allows us to hear Sarabjit’s familiar vocals after long. A serene but sometimes unsettling psychedelic listen that also includes vocals by Minam Tekseng (from garage rockers The Vinyl Records) and Ritwik De (from psych rockers MindFlew), we hope this goes live soon.

“Pretty Boy” by Aastha Atray