Naren's indie round-up/ March 2025 Ep 3

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

BombayMami/ Fire In Delhi

Label: MNRK UK

Rating: *** 1/2

After making waves with her track 'DhinDhinDha' last year, Indo-Swiss singer BombayMami comes out with 'Fire In Delhi'. Though the formula is pretty much the same, blending western and Indian elements with a catchy dance sound, this one has the hookline and the singalong factor.

Equally impressive is Nayan Sharma's video, where BombayMami is wearing a lehenga while doing an Indian dance and traversing Swiss locales in Indian jewellery. A Kathak dancer (Tulani Kayani) adds her touch.

The vocals mix BombayMami's English lines and rap part with Metula Raja's Indian classical vocals, as sitar, sarod and tabla add the desi instrumental flavour. The hook goes, "Take what's mine, do what's right, aay haay". Aay haay, indeed.

Aadya Jaswal/ To Try (from the album Sanctuary)

Label: Self-released 

Rating: ****

Gurugram-based singer-songwriter Aadya Jaswal has come out with her debut album Sanctuary. Some of the songs 'Aisha', 'Hooded Figures' and 'Cavern' have been released earlier, and reviewed or mentioned by this blogger. 

One of the new songs here is 'To Try', which like the other tunes, has been produced by Barun Sinha. The opening lines are, "I try, I try to write this song, but I feel stuck in the same things for a while, try to get out but I fall back in, I try to stay calm but sometimes everything is closing, I try to try".

The song plays on the word 'try', and musically has an indie-folk sound, with a good build-up. The lyrics have a lot of thought behind them, and that's what's impressive. The other songs on the album are worth a try too.

Gini/ Aashiyan

Label: Sony Music 

Rating; *** 1/2

With her songs 'Sukoon', 'Chaukhat' and 'Ansuna', singer-songwriter Gini has built up an impressive catalogue in her young age. She performed her new single 'Aashiyan' at the NMACC Studio some weeks ago, and now the studio version is out.

The song has been co-composed by her, Raghav Meattle and Bharath Rajeevan, who also plays guitar and does production. The lyrics by Gini are simple - "Mujhko saanson mein sambhaale, has kar shaamein yeh sanwaare, chaahe jo kar doon tere hawaale, aashiyan, aashiyaan bana le."

Bhavna Kankaria's video is different from the regular fare. The images stay, as does the song's hookline.

Divyam Sodhi & Khwaab/ Kya Kahein

Label: Day One, a Sony Music division

Rating: *** 1/2

Divyam Sodhi has a really pleasant and expressive voice, and his partnership with producer and co-composer Khwaab on the album Haal-e-Dil was fantastic. The song 'Piya' was a beauty.

They now release the song 'Kya Kahein', with lyrics by Tanmay Maheshwari. Divyam sings, "Jitna gehra hai yeh samandar, utni gehri yeh shaamein, kitna bikhra tumse milkar, dil se pooche yeh sawaal". The main line "Kya kahein, kya na kahein" hints at a dilemma faced while expressing one's thoughts.

The riverside video features Divyam and Rutwik Deshpande. It goes with the simplicity of the song.

Tech Panda x Kenzani/ Ek Tara

Label: Groovebird Records

Rating: ** 1/2

The popular Delhi folktronic duo of Tech Panda x Kenzani team up with regular collaborator Mithika Kanwar on their new track 'Ek Tara'. There are two versions here - a YouTube one running into 4:47 minutes and a shorter radio edit of less than 3 minutes.

In both cases, the intro is predictable and offers nothing new, though being a dancefloor track, there are vibrant synths and strong percussion lines. Mithika's Punjabi vocals provide a brief twist and the ending goes back to the formula-driven synthy vibe.

The duo has done far better stuff before, and a longer vocal section may have helped. Here, one can shake a leg without focusing much on the sound.





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