Raman Negi Roars on Bright New Song ‘Kismet’

Singer-songwriter Raman Negi channels a bit of indie pop/rock on his new song “Kismet,” produced with Gaurav Chintamani.

What starts off like a hopeful love song that draws from Negi’s indie-rock leanings – somewhat reminiscent of American band Death Cab for Cutie – steadily sees the artist put his heart on the line, offering his distinct vocal edge over Hindi and Urdu lyrics.

A press release says about the song, “Drawing from personal experiences he writes about a serendipitous turn of events that found him at the doorstep of an optimistic love.”

Negi says in a statement, “The riff to the song came first and lyrics came later. The musical progression sounded hopeful and I wanted to write a letter of gratitude to the people I love. I have always approached the subject with angst and yearning. This felt comfortable…and happy?”

The song comes with a music video directed by Negi’s go-to filmmaker and photographer Maan Boruah. Negi takes control of one perspective by handling the camera in selfie mode, singing the lyrics with Chintamani playing bass and drummer Shantanu Sudarshan behind the kit. With a living room intimacy, the video also ends up taking a surreal turn with a horse sharing space with the band as they work through the song.

Released on Jul. 5, the song comes as Negi’s first release since his 2022 debut album Shakhsiyat. It was in the middle of 2022 that he released his debut solo single “Mehroom,” which marked a new direction for the erstwhile co-founder and frontman of rock band The Local Train. “I started having these existential thoughts about myself as an artist […] You grow because of [writing songs] and your influences change and you change as an artist. I had a very tough time as an artist last year. That’s what ‘Mehroom’ is about,” Negi told Rolling Stone India in 2022. 

Now with “Kismet,” Negi is working towards releasing the follow-up to Shakhsiyat with Chintamani. It’s an eight-song album, with the title yet to be released. Two more singles are expected until September this year, when the full album will be out.