Premiere: Bengaluru Art-Rock Band Iram’s Tranquil New Song ‘Karaar’

Formed in 2016 and making their mark with an evocative, dreamy debut EP Azal, Bengaluru-based art-rock band Iram have since had a long road to writing and releasing more material. Now with singer-songwriter Neil Simon Abel behind the mic, you can hear them pick up close to where they left off, with new sonic elements on their song “Karaar.”

Completed by drummer Shawn Jacob, guitarist-keyboardist Aadarsh Subramanian and bassist Shashank Dutt, Iram craft a peacefully paced song that addresses rediscovering oneself and the contentment that comes with it. While they released a live album earlier this year, Abel adds about their first studio work in a while, “We’ve tried to have a good sounding but not an over-produced track. I think it’s important to have the grit in the sound of a rock band intact in their studio releases.” He cites producers Akash Sivakumar and Vivek Thomas as essential to finessing the sound of “Karaar,” which was written last year.

While Iram regrouped following the exit of co-founder and guitarist-keyboardist Gaurav Govilkar (part of prog band Coma Rossi), it took them a while to become regulars in the live circuit in Bengaluru with the current lineup. Performing at intimate gig venues as a solo act as well as with the band, Abel says that Iram is still trying to draw more people and digital concerts have been a “blessing.” He adds, “It is true that the quality does suffer but it has better reach. We’ve in fact had our first sold out gig ever on a streaming platform [last month].”

There’s more online performances coming up as well as Iram leveraging the potential of reaching out to new listeners digitally. Abel adds, “We hope to have another single releasing sometime later this year.”

Listen to “Karaar” below. The song is out on all platforms on September 25th.