It would perhaps be cliched to call an album titled Red Earth Reverie — earthy. But sometimes artists embed the best adjectives into the titles of their own work and they become undetachable from their essence. Red Earth Reverie is earthy, grounded, and yet somewhat floating and bypassing the feeling of claustrophobia one is familiar with within the Indian music-scape.
The album comes 5 years after their 2020 debut, and is the product of a singular, uninterrupted, 27 minute long take, and features three interludes. They are interesting in their construction, looping a sound-byte that resembles the singing of a haunted bird, and gentle crooning that ties the songs together into a cohesive shape. The album’s name, according to the band, “reflects the band’s time spent together living, writing and performing together in Goa and Auroville, both known for their distinctive red soil.” Recorded at the Kalabhumi Studio in Auroville, the new record features guest musicians Edoardo and Tommaso D’Avanzo on lead guitar and percussion respectively.
A press-release from the band states that “the album explores the often-overlooked aspects of romantic relationships, from moments of delusion to performative gestures and fleeting emotions. The artwork, featuring a temporary heart traced in the earth, reflects this theme. Musically, this album represents a conscious decision to preserve and represent the raw energy, emotion and dynamism of the band’s live sets.” “For us, our live performances, with their imperfections and improvisations, are where the magic lies,” said Dhruv Dhingra, the band’s bassist-cum-keyboardist. “Hence, our decision to record without a metronome, with all the instruments and vocals in one big studio room.” Rijul Singh, who handles vocals and rhythm guitar, added, “We approached the album as a mini live set – a curated, meandering and at times rewarding experience. To re-create that same intensity, we kept post-production to the absolute minimum.”
The absence of post-production is evident, because the final mix does not sound like it has gone through sixteen layers of vacuuming every imperfection. Instead, the record is pretty organic, uses room tones, and resembles a performance for a small audience in an undisclosed location. Singh’s vocals are soaring, textured, and impressive. Summer’s Bride, the opening track, draws you right in, not just by the instrumentality [albeit commendable] with Dhingra’s bass doing wonders, but also the lyricism and the smooth transition to the first interlude.
In an odd way, perhaps a large chunk of this record reminds me of Thom Yorke led trio The Smile’s compositions — specifically the first interlude taking me to Wall of Eyes. Another favorite of mine, off the album is Darling, Won’t You Dance — a playful number, inviting, with a fun percussive line, and an insistence from the vocalist — “Baby, love me”.
Play It Cool, the last track on the album, and my personal favorite — proves that he is a singer, with him stretching and tuning his voice like a well-oiled instrument. The lyrics leading up from “you called me out to the garden just to play“, and “I asked you how we started, you won’t say” to the final cry of “all my love was not enough” is almost a sojourn in catharsis for a brief moment in time, for the artists and the audience, a two way street into a pit of coping.
The tracks delve into an eccentric sort of grief, the kind that is like an appeal, and reflective, directional, and yet not brutal. For the most part, it is this sort of gentle reflection, the kind that acknowledges bruises but does not pick at them — and moves in the narrative arc of grappling and composing oneself. This is a good album, with good contours, and the band has managed to find themselves a good standing ground that does not alienate songwriting and musicality from each other — which, while imperative to artistry, are increasingly found at odds these days. A lot of this album is not performative, but personal, which lends it a distinct edge in terms of quality. 5 years is a long gap between two albums, but it is mostly worth it, and perhaps shapes future absences in time for other, greater projects with promise.
