An EP with flavours of trapsoul, R&B, and synth, PALETTE is a collaborative project between Gangtok’s artists Siddhant Neopaney aka KSA Neo and Chomjom Lahang Limboo aka Chomii. Released in March, the EP’s title is inspired by an artist’s palette, reflecting the diverse assortment of genres within the project, as stated by Chomii, who mixed and mastered PALETTE.“The inspiration and the motive of this EP was to spread and put out songs like these in our locality since genres like these are not introduced much around where we come from. And to enhance the music scene of course,” he added. This five-track project, featuring KSA NEO’s songwriting and vocals, spans a range of genres while maintaining a cohesive vibe.
The EP starts with the track titled Intro, which begins with a distorted sound effect and soft key notes, which is then followed by words of melancholy that depict the artist being reminiscent of someone. The words are cut short as the song transmutes into a voice, assisted by a telephonic vocal effect, speaking about the artist’s desire of writing songs, which is further filled with a poetic essence as he speaks about existence, coming of spring, and the sun rising. The poetic nature of the lyrics, set against ambient music, transforms the track into something more reflective, setting an artistic tone.
The second track of the EP is Party Mind, which, as the name suggests, pretty much sounds like a party-specific song. With hip-hop as the base, and a girl as the muse, this song sets a mood similar to what Post Malone or Juice WRLD’s music gives rise to. While it’s fun and catchy, those looking for the depth of Intro might be left wanting. As a standalone, though, Party Mind fits well into a contemporary playlist, especially ones that contain hip-hop, trapsoul, and R&B.
As we move on towards the third track, we are welcomed with Wishes, that has afrobeats and dancehall with subtle latino pop forming the framework. It’s a fun-sounding song that manages to keep the party mood created by Party Mind, the second track, alive. Here, there is an intimation of an interaction happening between the artist and a female counterpart, and though there’s not much going on in this track, its youthful energy intermingling with a flirty flair is what keeps it pushing.
Album cover of PALETTE
The fourth track, titled When We First Met, brings with it, a waft of fresh air as it subtly encapsulates synth, a genre which is seeing a revival in the contemporary music scene, along with a rap adding to its flavour. This track acts like a bridge between nostalgia and the present and like the previous tracks, draws on a similar idea of speaking of a romantic advance between two people.
The final track of the EP is Runaway, which again, keeps romance as the base, and talks about a seemingly rough patch between two people. There isn’t much substance in this track and when you have heard three songs, all with a similar theme, it’s perhaps quite natural to have it tamper with the initial enthusiasm that existed, which substantiates that it can manage to do better as a standalone number, rather than being under the umbrella of the EP. However, what I liked about this song is the vocoder-assisted voice towards the outro, which reflected a strong influence of Daft Punk.
Overall, PALETTE plays it safe but leaves room for growth. While the themes could have been more varied, the EP hints at potential growth and experimentation in future projects from KSA NEO and Chomii.
