Premiere: Brooklyn Band Minaxi Add Tabla to Dream-Pop on ‘Jaan (Sufi Rock Version)’

New York band Minaxi – whose vocalist, guitarist and composer-producer Shrenik Ganatra hails from Mumbai – have been blending shoegaze, dream-pop and alt rock with everything from Bollywood influences to Sufi mysticism. There’s more of that last element heard in their new Hindi song and music video for “Jaan (Sufi Rock Version)” from the upcoming album The Reverberating Sound of an Absent Metropolis.

While the eight-track album – collating B-sides, outtakes and remixes from Minaxi’s catalog – is being released with a few singles in the run up to the full release on March 1st, 2024, the Brooklyn-based act have put out a music video for “Jaan.” The trippy, pastiche-like layers make for an intriguing audio-visual offering, which is directed and edited by Ganatra.

The band says about the song in a statement, “‘Jaan’ is a Hindi word meaning ‘life,’ ‘loved one,’ or ‘darling,’ alluding, in the context of the song, to the higher power and its various forms.” In addition to Shrenik, the song features drummer Steve Carlin, bassist Thomas Herndon, guitarist Liam Christian and tabla artist Milan Ganatra.

In the larger album concept, The Reverberating Sound of an Absent Metropolis involves itself with ideas of a “civilization haunted by the ghosts of its past, a society once vibrant and alive, now reduced to a somber reflection of its former self.” There are themes of war (where “Jaan” comes in), alongside greed, distrust, tension and loneliness. The band’s album statement adds, “The album digs into the human psyche, exploring the fundamental question: Can one still nurture hope and love in their hearts amidst such overwhelming despair?”

The previous (and opening track) from the album before “Jaan” was “It’s Got Me Again.” Previously, Minaxi put out albums like Lazuleen (2022), Sialia (2021) and Khwab in 2020 and The Zia Fantasy/Noor EP (also in 2020), establishing their Hindi shoegaze sound.

There’s a bit of anger evident in Ganatra’s vocals, it’s despair that’s at the center of “Jaan,” poetic in its plea, either to a lover or a beloved higher power. Apocalyptic in nature, the album speaks of resilience in the midst of dark times. The band’s album note says, “It suggests that while humans are responsible for the collapse of society and their habitat throughout history, the empty spaces in these ruins create fertile ground for a glimmer of light; that human experience is cyclical and what has happened before will recurs until a different choice is made; that solace can be found in love; and that death, while the ultimate truth of life, does not erase one’s existence. Instead, people live on through memories, dreams, and shared connections even after they have passed.”