Something Relevant Are Ready With Their Second Album

Something Relevant Photo: Vikas Munipalle

If you’ve been following Something Relevant’s album updates over the course of the past few months, November 10th is the day those updates will go on to mark the online release of the Mumbai jam band’s second album We Could Be Dreaming. Unlike their last album Feels Good 2B Live, which was released on Silk Road/Universal/Relevant Records in 2009, the new album will be released independently, a decision the band thinks is a step in the right direction.

There have been several changes since the band’s debut album. Bassist Stuart DaCosta says, “We are a new band now. We have changed our lineup, our sound is taking a new shape, as it should.” DaCosta and guitarist Tanmay Bhattacherjee share vocal duties on the 10-track album. Just as the last album looked to the city for songwriting with “City In A Situation,” Mumbai resurfaces on this album on “Digging For Water,” which talks about the acute water shortage in the city.  Why the sudden eco-warrior stance? “Our sound changes every day,” says DaCosta, “If you ask us to record these songs again tomorrow it would sound completely different. This album is a marker in time when we sound a certain way. It helps us realize that and move on to something new, stay relevant.”

STR will also adopt a new approach to their videos this time around. For the first video, “Move Yourself,” the band will travel to different cities and shoot people dancing. “We are going to every city so we can play and film people dancing in ways they want to express themselves. The video will be a creative stand to an issue that we all find a little archaic and a bit too fundamental for a secular state as ours,” DaCosta says, adding, “We might break some laws in a few cities, but we will dance. We do not think it is wrong.”

Although the band has had the chance to road-test some of their new songs at Hard Rock Café in Mumbai on October 28th, the band say this is the first time they have “written songs, recorded them first and then premiered them live at a gig”.

Something Relevant will be on tour in November after releasing the album and have some gig dates to be confirmed in December. DaCosta says, “We hope to hit up as many cities as possible. We are probably coming to a city near you. If we aren’t please write to us, we will try and make it happen.”

(We Could Be Dreaming is set for release on November 10th on OKListen.com)