Hailing from Shillong, Meghalaya, Yong Meow is a music producer who’s love for music developed at a very young age thanks to Bollywood music, as he grew older he was introduced to rock music of the west by his brother, which pulled him further into the world of music.
His own musical journey started by playing the bass which upgraded to playing the guitar and finally led him to become a music producer. His recently released debut album ‘Eros’ is a showcase of his versatility as a producer and is an ode to all the influences he gathered while growing up.
The concept of multi genre projects seems to be in trend in the Indian scene lately but it can be a tough dish to cook; the assortment of sounds and their coherence being the key. With ‘Eros’, Yong Meow dives into the similar realm of albums having diverse sounds from hip-hop to RnB to a fusion of jazz and hindustani classical, there’s even a Bengali folk song in the mix. All of them bound by a universal theme of love. The album is crafted in an intricate way that none of the tracks sound out of place and transition into each other very smoothly.
The album starts strong with an ambient track, Rain, which sets up the mood of the album perfectly. The intro flows seamlessly into ‘As She Loved’, an atmospheric track having DnB roots, embedded with vocals of a woman iterating the different designations that can be given to the feeling of love, this establishes the theme that is going to be explored further in the album. The third track features Ayybe who via a laid-back melodic rap reminisces about lost love and fears of falling back in love. This track is one of the only few moments where the album lags in quality. There are flaws in the flows, the lyrical content and delivery isn’t as emotionally charged as it should have been to evoke a similar feeling of despair within me as a listener. Sidhant Deb’s rendition of Bangla folk song ‘Kande Hason’ comes next which is an instant standout track. Despite the fusion of contemporary music elements, the essence of a folk song remains intact adding a great flavour to the album. I loved the placement of ‘Home On A Monday’ which comes as a breather for the upcoming final segment of the album.
The last leg starts with ‘Endless Love’ and ‘Your Lips and Love’ both featuring RnB singer Skye who gives a much needed punch to the album with her charismatic performance. ‘A Letter To The Rain’ adds another low moment in the album because of the voice note/skit in the end which feels forced and unnecessary. Meow keeps the best for last as the ambient tabla and saxophone based track ‘Leishi’ tops off the album beautifully.
On the whole, Eros is a roller coaster ride of sounds as well as quality. Where some ideas work well, others lack in execution and deserve a lot more refinement. The 9-track album gives a very promising start to the Shillong based artist’s career and excites us to witness what he does next.
