Part of the six-piece alt-rock act ‘Spud in the box’, Joshua Singh believes in the craftsmanship that goes into making music capable of evoking feelings unknown. Post a brief hiatus, the 25-year-old multi-instrumentalist has come up with his debut EP ‘Understudy’ which packs 5 tracks that were written and produced all in the same day.
With an intention to create a free flow of sorts, Joshua has beautifully blended electronica with subtle acoustic elements. Understudy experiments with a wide variety of melodies featuring a bunch of artists like Sid Vashi on Saxophone, vocalists Rachel Singh and K o k u m, Violinists Ajay Jayanthi and Shirish Malhotra, and Rajeev Prasanna on flute.
In the opening track Few of us Around, Joshua plays smartly with different melodies giving away the impression that the journey of conscious introspection has just begun. Flowing into a seemingly comforting soundscape of harmonies featuring Kokum, Day 6, with its synth patterns, offers shape shifting pleasures. Singh lends his voice to Make Believe immersing acoustic guitars in shadowing halos of electronic sounds until Ajay takes over with his violin and Rachel Singh’s vocals cut right through in melancholia. Layered subtly with the bass, smooth percussive texture, and synth, Another Day flows into the last track Normal is for fools. Rachel’s vocal prowess blends in with Rajeev’s flute lead and Sid’s artful sax section only to result in gang chants for a brief outro.
Mixed by Saibu Simon, Rohan Ramanna, Ayan De, and Kunal Mehta and mastered by U.K.-based Dick Beetham at 360 Mastering, ‘Understudy’ is self-produced by Joshua Singh. A great one for a debut, it portrays with clarity Singh’s ability to combine his artistic prowess with that of other talented artists in the scene.
Hear ‘Understudy’ below:
