Singles Roundup #3: Diversify your playlist with these latest tracks

Bangalore based Varshita Ramesh who goes by the artist name Huyana, released her latest RnB pop single Is it you? Besides having smooth groovy RnB tunes, and a catching pop hook line, it also features a hip-hop bridge part which is sung by Varshita herself. This a song about letting go and accepting that you can’t play the blame game forever. The single cover art is also a quirky picture of hers with simple, yet cool graphics.

Zariya, the alias of electronic musician and producer Aseem Anand Kurhekar, who has released his debut single Khoya. Zariya blends Indian traditional music, hip-hop, and electronica into a seamless fusion of new age music. The track is a genre-bending twist of electronica, with pop and soothing vocals, and a touch of Indian music to create a fresh vibe.

The frontman of Bangalore based rock band Black Letters, Sharath Narayan – Cosmic Attic released his latest single Comet. This electronic track has elements of synth, lo-fi, and a sense of dreaminess to it, with repetitive beats. The track has an outer space sort of a vibe while listening and the single cover art does justice to the overall feel of the track, providing a dreamy-spacey feel.

This heavy metal progressive band is the solo project of Delhi/London based Yatin Srivastava. Their latest single All we ever wanted was nothing is a reflection of the anger fuelling within large sections of the society against the recent tyrannical actions of the Indian government and the deteriorating societal conditions. The idea behind the song title is to resonate with the stories of young people who feel like they have been ignored by society. The pent up anger of Srivastava can be felt with the heavy lyrics, and the heavy metal music accompanying the vocals.  

Mumbai based electronic artist Abhimanyu Mullick, who goes by the monicker Manyu released his latest single Storm Before the Calm. The track has many lo-fi electronic beats which eventually increase their tempo as the song progresses. The video has clips of India during the lockdown, which give a reference to how these tough times are the storm, and eventually, we shall have our calm as well – after we endure this storm of COVID- 19.

Bleachead, or Bleac(h)ead as the band likes to write, is a 3-piece desert rock band based out of Delhi. Their latest single – Stocker is a hard rock/metal song with exciting guitar riffs, a strong dominating bassline, along with equally powerful drums, which do justice to the vocals and the lyrics. The song starts with eerie, almost haunting guitar before you are suddenly hit with powerful lyrics and vocals. The track also has an interesting cover art that blends well with the song.

In this face of uncertainty, RnB, jazz/blues, Carnatic vocalist, and songwriter – Aditi Ramesh released her new single Heal. The song talks about how the earth seems to be regenerating and recovering from the massive toll that our daily lives take on the environment as we begin to restrict ourselves home. The RnB, soul track by the end also features almost a monologue of sort by Ramesh as she talks about the dos and don’ts, advising people during these uncertain times.

AKOG is a 6-piece rock band hailing from Bangalore. They describe their music as FunkRock because their music has a distinctive high energy sound that meets rock, punk, and blues. Their latest single Plain Good Feeling is how you’d feel after listening to their music as it incorporates blues, with dynamic energy, as it transcends to the foot-tapping, fast-paced Elvis Presley style of rock and roll blues, and eventually back to spacey blues, all in line with the theme and lyrics of the song. The song is a reminder to taking pride in who you are and an ode to all those ups and downs that create the enigma each individual is.

Delhi based singer-songwriter, Hanita Bhambri is known for her expressive songwriting. During this time of being in quarantine, the physical distance between people in love has grown more. Her latest single Dive is about this happy-sad longing of wanting to be right next to the person you love. The song uses minimal arrangement, with just guitars and her soulful, pleasant voice to create more intimacy.

Aaliya Qureishi, a Mumbai based rock artist takes her name Jhallih from the derogatory term used for young Indian girls who refuse to conform to the norms. The song is about how when we are forced to spending a lot of time with ourselves, we start confronting our inner demons. The notion of destruction of the old self and to start afresh is represented in the cover art which shows Goddess Kali. The track has rather existential lyrics, with a catchy bassline and funky guitars which makes this a song about self-discovery, relevant in these confusing times.

Blood Brothers, from Ahmedabad, is probably the heavy metal band which features the youngest members in India. Even though they don’t associate their music to one particular genre, their album and their inspirations have been heavy metal. Hope is what the world needs right now. The band, with their latest single, aims to give Hope to people. Their track sounds like soft pop-rock, but also includes an exciting guitar solo as well! Every time their song gets streamed, the band will pay the double of what they get to the COVID-19 relief fund.

Mumbai’s progressive rock project, Runt’s contemplative new single ‘Last Breath’ is every bit heavy as it is groovy. The solo project of Siddharth Basrur (vocalist of famous metal act Goddess Gagged) now features two more band members with Orenstein Woner on Bass & Vocals and Chandan Raina: Guitar & Vocals. An instrumental track with dashes of psychedelia, the track is themed around our existentialist need to reconcile the meaning of our lives in the context of the life of the universe,