One fine day (or maybe not so fine, I honestly don’t remember), I came across a short clip of a beautiful instrumental on social media. I listened to it over and over again. It’s not an exaggeration to say I was so drawn to it, it almost felt like love at first sight. Or rather, love at first sound.
The track was Jam 1 from Sundae, the collaborative project between Angad Berar and Jamblu(Kartik Pillai). The entire 3 minutes and 23 seconds felt like a journey between an Indian village and a frame from Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó, especially the cattle scene at the beginning(D’you know what I mean?). Safe to say, “And kids, that’s how I met the album Sundae.”
So, what really constitutes the album? Well, it houses 8-tracks with Driving With You being the only one that features vocals. As Angad Berar describes the album, it is sonically, a locomotive ride—Kraut-inspired Hindustani psych rock that hums with momentum and mood. Notably, the album is laced with fuzzy guitar lines, ambient textures, and warm, unhurried percussion.
The songs carry both a meditative and celebratory spirit. Though Sundae was my introduction to Angad Berar’s work, I explored his earlier music and noticed a clear signature — an ability to create ambient soundscapes that feel more like immersive experiences than just tracks.
To say the least, Sundae is not a heavily complex project, rather it’s a subtle nod to the slow rhythms of life. Jam 1 stood out to be my favourite, followed by Jam 5. They really turned out to be my jam! Also, let me emphasise that the album truly engulfed in it a journey that traversed borders, which, perhaps is a reflection of the fact that the tracks were written across Goa, Delhi, and Berlin. For listeners who appreciate instrumental tracks that can soothe and feel like a walk on those days when they don’t mind the sun rays caressing them, Sundae surely deserves to be added to their playlists.
