Naren's indie round-up/ June 2025, Ep 2

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Sanjay Divecha/ Leela (album)

Label: Self-released 

Rating; ****

At the International Jazz Day show held at the St Andrew's Auditorium, Bandra, on April 30, guitarist Sanjay Divecha had played a beautifully melodious piece called 'Afrika'. It appears as the fifth tune of his new album Leela, and it's something that sticks to you. The writing credits are shared by him and Cameroonian jazz composer Andre Manga.

'Afrika' is one of the highlights of Leela, a collection of marvellous pieces driven by his guitar. It's a showcase of Sanjay's immense talent, and it's played with a lot of soul.

The other tunes are composed solely by Sanjay himself. Beginning with a gorgeous instrumental 'When Mountains Meet The Sky', it moves on to a tribute to guitar great John McLaughlin on 'Song For John Ji', where Apoorv Petkar has some intricate sargams.

The album has a mix of instrumental and vocal tracks, with appearances by singers Vasundhara Vee on 'Song For Tom', and Anand Bhagat and Ananya Sharma in 'Path To You And Anandi'. The title track is in two parts, the second featuring vocal assistance by Ananya.

The instrumentals 'Ikara' and 'Song For Kjo', dedicated to late keyboardist Karan Joseph, conclude the album. At a time when many guitar albums feature electric virtuosity and razzle-dazzle, this comes as a breath of fresh acoustic air and a wave of serenity.

Aruna/ Go

Label: Pop Division 

Rating: ***

Originally from Kolkata, singer Aruna has now settled down in the UK, where she's part of the local scene. Her latest single 'Go' talks of the feeling one has after walking away from a relationship that isn't working anymore.

Despite the pain, there's hope in lines like, "And maybe oh someday there can be a future where we're better for each other, for now we'll let this be".

The song is driven by a solid piano backdrop and well-constructed strings. Musically It's very different from last year's song 'Thoughts & Therapy'. This one is balladsy and rendered well.

Aseem & Vibha Saraf with Siddharth & Sangeet/ Koi Jaane Na

Promoted by: Amazon MX Player

Rating: *** 1/2

Singers Vibha Saraf and Aseem get together on 'Koi Jaane Na', a duet that has a nice lilt to it. The song begins with a chorus and some whistles before Vibha takes over.

The song has been composed and produced by the Haldipur brothers Siddharth and Sangeet.  The words, written by Akshayraje Shinde, begin, "Gaane lagakar tujhe yaad karke yeh dil muskurata hai kyon, yeh koi jaane na, likhne jo baithe toh har baar tere hi baare mein likhta hai kyon, yeh koi jaane na". Later, they say, "Kuch to alag sa hi hai tera mera yeh koi jaane na".

Assem comes in somewhere in the middle. It's a well-structured duet, and the coordination between the singers is neat.

Aman Moroney feat. Shaurya Saxena/ Neend

Label: Desi Trill

Rating: *** 1/2

Aman Moroney is one of the versatile composers and arrangers on the indie scene. This blogger's favourite is 'Jiya Kaanch Ka', sung by Prateeksha Srivastava.

On his new song 'Neend', he teams up with talented singer Shaurya Saxena, whose pleasant voice and strong technique enhance words like. "Faasle the jahaan pe, kaise mile do kinaare wahin; hai jo raahat phir bhi, neend mujhe phir kyon aati nahin". The songwriting is by Aman, Shaurya and Mihir Thatte.

While Aman plays electric and acoustic guitars, violin and synth, the sitar solo by Hardik Verma is fabulous. The video by Sarthak Kanojia features Shaurya himself, and has some good street shots in Jodhpur.



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