Naren's indie round-up/ April 2025, Ep 3

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Shadaj Godkhindi & Others/ Drake Passage

Label: Self-released 

Rating: *** 1/2

The son of flautist Pravin Godkhindi, Shadaj Godkhindi has been showing promise among the younger generation of artistes. He now comes up with a genre-blending track 'Drake Passage', inspired by the stretch of water that connects South America with Antarctica.

The idea is to use the passage as a metaphor to describe the free flow of sounds. Giving Shadaj company in this journey are guitarist Rickraj Nath, bassist Sheldon D'Silva, drummer Gino Banks and tabla player Ishaan Ghosh.

Thought It's almost seven minutes long, the tune keeps one glued with the intense playing and spontaneous improvisation. It's a smooth amalgam of Indian classical with jazz, rock and world music, appropriately depicted in the video.

Aparshakti Khurana/ First Sight Wala Love

Label: T-Series

Rating: ****

Actor Aparshakti Khurana, known for the film Berlin and the OTT series Jubilee, composes and sings the song 'First Side Wala Love'. It's a rather cute number about love at first sight.

The video, directed by Arsh Grewal, has a simple storyline talking about love as expressed by three generations. Nikita Dutta is paired opposite Aparshakti in the youth phase.

The song has a catchy melody, with dominant harmonium, and simple lyrics that go, "First sight wala love kara di, haay". It has a feel-good nature, and is something you can hum along with your partner.

Rishi Singh/ Manzoori

Label: Indie Music Label 

Rating: ** 1/2

There has been an overdose of heartbreak songs, where the singer tries to overdo the emotional outburst. Vishal Mishra has made it a habit.

Now Rishi Singh tries the same formula on 'Manzoori', as he sings, "Mujhe begaana karne ki manzoori de gaya, dil ke bichda toh barson ki doori de gaya".  Again, too much outpouring of pathos despite a good basic melody line by Anmol Daniel.

Even Jasmin Oza's video sticks to the formula, alternating sad-eyed shots with happy flashbacks featuring Rishi and Akshita Sharma. To be fair, Rishi has a pleasant vocal texture. Just that we've had too many songs on the same subject. 

Delara, Charan and Talal Qureshi feat. Beam/ Kalash Reimagined

Label: GR-OW Records

Rating: ***

Delara, a Norwegian singer with Persian roots, teams up with Indian singer Charan and Pakistani producer Talal Qureshi to create a new version of her hit 'Kalash'. The original track also featured Jamaican-American rapper Beam.

'Kalash Reimagined' has a trendy dancefloor sound, with Delara singing, "Dancing with Kalash, doing what you love, shooting for the stars, shutdown it's khalas" and Charan following up with Hindi words.

The end result is a cross-cultural track using elements of pop, rhythm n' blues and dancehall. The lyrical video acts as an aid, though the song may just require some foot-tapping.rather thar a focus on the words.

Runt feat. Siddharth Basrur/ Racecar 

Label: Self-released 

Rating: *** 1/2

Powerhouse vocalist Siddharth Basrur is now out with the second single from his rock project Runt. Blending alternative rock with punk energy, 'Racecar' turns our to be an ideal driving song.

The lyrics talk of the obsession of today's young generation to seek validation on social media. This is conveyed through the lines, "Lost in a four-inch screen, I've forgotten what it means; lines blurred, red-eyed, tunnel vision, outline undefined, scroll up till you die" and "Follow me, and I'll follow you back, I need to be seen, I need to be seen, counting the numbers, no holding back now, like the air you breathe". Get the point?

Ranjabati Sarkar's video captures various locales in Mumbai, with Siddharth singing or playing the guitar. Let's now await the entire album, also called Runt.







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