Something Relevant Retooled As Baycity Lights

Something Relevant got together a decade ago in Mumbai and gained a following as one of the most well-known jam bands in the country covering a range of genres including jazz and rock, releasing two albums Feels Good to be Live (in 2010) and We Could be Dreaming (in 2012) .

In September, Something Relevant’s original vocalist and guitarist Rohan Mazumdar rejoined the band and the rest of the band also saw some reshuffling ”“ bassist Stuart DaCosta switched to keys, vocals and synthesizer, guitarist Tanmay Bhattacherjee took on bass, percussionist Aalok Padhye shifted to the keyboard. Ryan Sadri continued as STR’s saxophonist and Jehangir Jehangir stuck to his role as the band’s drummer. DaCosta says that they have  just begun writing some new material. He adds, “We sound nothing like Something Relevant. So we thought that it’s better to go all out with something completely new. This is completely fresh.” The band is calling the new sound urban pop. Adds DaCosta, “We’re all huge fans of hip hop and a couple of musicians in the band are jazz musicians as well, so [there’s] jazz, soul and R &B. So it’s kind of like pop music with an urban sound.”

Keen to start afresh, STR also changed their name to Baycity Lights, which “is inspired by the city lights of Bombay which we see through the airplane window.” The first track, which is a preview to their upcoming album, is titled “Glued.” DaCosta elaborates, “It’s inspired by the Seventies vintage soul kind of sound where we have analog synthesizers, a horn section and a vintage organ sound. It’s a happy song.” Baycity Lights have started working and recording their new album at their own studio, The Cotton Press Studio where their second album, We Could be Dreaming was recorded.

Baycity Lights will premiere through a five-city tour in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The first gig will be at Hard Rock Café, Andheri, Mumbai on the 30^th of October.

Stream the first Baycity Lights track “Glued” below: