Naren's indie round-up/ June 2023, Ep 4

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

micumice feat. Sarah Jane Dias/ In Your Eyes

Label: Throan Of Art Music

Rating: ****

Guitarist-composer Micu Patel aka micumice, a regular on Mumbai's live circuit, is joined by singer Sarah Jane Dias on 'In Your Eyes'. It's a chilled out, trendy duet which some marvellous production and a classy video.

While micumice also plays guitars, Rohan chips in with santoor. The ending lines are, "Oh baby shine your light, don't let me fall into the sky; my heart is aching just to see that smile in your eyes".

The black n' white video has a nice forest backdrop. Both Sarah and micumice play their parts, blending into the song's mood naturally.

Anushka J/ Autumn Daze

Label: Self-released 

Rating: *** 1/2

Anushka J is a 16-year-old Bengaluru-based singer-songwriter who has earlier released reimagined versions of Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good' and the Imagine Dragons song 'Radioactive'. In both cases she teamed up with guitarist-peoducer Vinay Kaushal.

The two collaborate again on Anushka's first original 'Autumn Daze', which talks of teenage loneliness and simultaneously instils hope. A bit over four minutes long, the song uses both emotions and imagery, with lines like "What a beautiful sight to see" and "Come on over let's make some memories in the autumn daze".

For her age, Anushka displays maturity. It's a good beginning.

EYM Trio feat. Varijashree Venugopal/ No Madness

Label: Kollision Records

Rating: ****

Consisting of pianist Elie Dufour, bassist Yann Phayphet and drummer Marc Michel, the EYM Trio was formed in France in 2010. On its visits to India, it has taken inspiration from local sounds and even collaborated with singer Mirande Shah on its 2018 album Sadhana.

Now, the group has worked with singer Varijashree Venugopal on the album Bangalore, from which two tracks have been released. The first, 'No Madness', out a month ago, is more avant garde and 'Borders', just available, is melodic.

Varijashree has worked with Ricky Kej and Sandeep Chowta, and gels brilliantly in the fusion space, using sargams innovatively. In both songs, the trio comes up with some fabulous individual playing which complements the vocal lines.

Tech Panda X Kenzani/ Kulli

Label: Groovebird Records

Rating: ***

Delhi-based electronic producers Rupinder Nanda and Kedar Santwani go by the name of Tech Panda X Kenzani. After tasting success with the Punjabi folktronic track 'Dilbar', they collaborated with singer Badal on a cover of the Spiderverse song 'Sunflower'.

On their latest release 'Kulli', they use an old Sufi number 'Kulli Ni Vich Yaar Labh Lai'. Adding a Middle Eastern flavour, sounds of the oud and fresh percussive energy, they give it a new twist.

The song has a loungey feel, perhaps suited for playing along with tracks from the Buddha Bar series. Though there isn't much variety in the vocals, it has a welcome exotic and folksy.

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi/ Shararat

Label: Zee Music

Rating: ***

Singer Suchitra Krishnamoorthi was prolific during the 1990s Indipop wave, with albums like Dole Dole, Dum Tara, A-Ha and Zindagi. She's now released the single 'Shararat'.

The song has been written in ghazal format, beginning with the lines, "Badalte mausam ne phir koi shararat ki, yoon mud ke dekh liya aapne qayamat ki". Lyrics are by Mayur Puri and the composition is by Sunita Nagarajan, with Asit Tripathy behind the pleasant arrangements. 

Kunal Verma's video has been shot in a recording booth. It sort of gets repetitive and could have done with more angles.