It’s been a good year for PCRC fans all around the world, with the band announcing a new album “Beta” for a 2024 release and a world tour “Good Luck Beta” , earlier this year (alongside Khruangbin) while also releasing and teasing tracks from the album. After radio silence on new music after the release of Bismillah in 2019, we’re all here for this celebration that is new music by Peter Cat Recording Co.
With only a few days left for their latest peshkash, we thought we’d dive into 3 songs they’ve given us from the new album.
It all started with the song “People Never Change”. The full length song starts with close to 2 minutes of the traditional wedding drums, embellished with strings, guitars, horns and additional percussions until we hear Suryakant Sawhney, who’s lyrics take a cynical approach of sorts, about how people never change but he will because he doesn’t care what others say or think about him. While in the same breath, he sings about people never wanting to see others win, and how they’re so afraid of everything, including changing. The instruments drop out every alternate chorus, changing to a stripped down version of the song, giving the listener space and time to focus on the lyrics and really get what the song is about.
The next song came in the form of a YouTube premiere titled “Suddenly”. This one sounds like something straight out of Bismillah. Lifafa goes back to his soul, jazz and RnB roots to deliver a soundscape complete with everything that a PCRC fan needs. This track is a deeply introspective and emotional one, where we get a glimpse into the life of a young Suryakant Sawhney. The verses are about his dad, who was in the merchant navy but passed away when Lifafa was in his early teens.
The crescendo of the song blends in seamlessly with the other parts and the “Papa I know” will really tug at the strings of your heart. The music video of the band members on a boat dressed as merchant navy officers and clips of Suryakant’s mom tearing up all come together to form a heart wrenching tribute which will surely bring tears to your eyes when you listen to it. It’s my personal favourite from the three songs we’ve heard so far.
Which brings us to the last days of July 2024, when we got Foolmuse, a lifafa-less song written and performed by the rest of the band. We get to hear Kartik Sundareshan Pillai (Jamblu) on the mic as the doo-wop, laid back instrumental pairs perfectly with the relaxed delivery of the lyrics, which also act as a contrast to some pretty eyebrow rasing lines like “Not trying to be a creep, or be obtuse. But you can use me, hit and abuse me”. The song is about a one-sided lover, desperately trying to get with someone he loves, even though everything in their lives advises against it. He insists he can make it work and make his love happy. The title of the song “Foolmuse” is a portmanteau of what the person can to be to his partner, a fool, a muse, or both.
In the second chorus, the lyrics change slightly, alluding to the fact that both the people are finally together. But during the outro, the lyrics change again, about wanting to get with the person. This could mean that this song is about a relationship which did take shape for some time, but then quickly fizzled out and the one sided lover was left longing for it, yet again. After the second verse, we’re hit with an unexpected fuzzy guitar solo, which is a very interesting choice but pairs so well with the themes which are being sung about. By the end of the song, it seems that both the people have come to the realisation that their being together is not going to work out as they advise each other to never think about each other again and move on with their lives, while still holding out that last glimmer of hope that it works out.
Only 3 songs from the 13 track album have been released, but they’ve finally brought to an end, the insurmountable level of expectation and longing for fans (me) who will be over the moon that their favourite band, Peter Cat Recording Company, is back.
