Just five minutes into my conversation with actor-singer-songwriter Alexx ONell, and I know this is going to be a masterclass of sorts... one with a bizarre title. Something along the lines of ‘Why I’m Ecstatic My Album Never Released, and Why It Never Will’. Yes,…
As I listened to Mumbai-based Alt-rock band Last Minute India's latest single Kaagaz Ki Naav, the first thing that popped into my head was Anurag Basu's critically acclaimed film Life In A Metro. In a nutshell, it's music made for montage sequences. Music that takes…
Two harpists from the United Kingdom play the lushest of tunes. A guitarist from Argentina shreds like nothing you’ve ever heard. A singer-songwriter from India with the most angelic voice sings gospel pieces that melt your soul. What they have in common is they’ve spent…
Ezra Pound defined poetry as a composition of words set to music, thus building on Aristotle’s early definition of poetry as the form of mimesis that utilises rhythm, language, and harmony. Harmony, he said, distinguished poetry from other language-based forms. With his latest single, composer…
When I tell Anoushka Maskey she sounds like Doris Day meets Bossa nova, she stops me right in my tracks. “Was that you in the comments who said that?” She probes. “There’s someone who said exactly that!” I assure her it wasn’t me. In fact, I…
When you hit play on Prateek Gandhi’s new single Tum Aao Na, you will want to close your eyes and imagine yourself on the balcony of a Marine Drive apartment, in all it’s Bauhaus glory, looking out at the ocean on a warm summers eve.
You may remember Rhapsody Out Loud (ROL) from India’s Got Talent a few years ago. If not, here’s a refresher. It’s rare that one sees a glorious mix of talents, instruments, languages and influences. In that sense, ROL’s music spans several genres. 17 to be…
Saaranya's latest single I Purple You is all kinds of sweet. The 19-year-old singer-songwriter from Mumbai calls it an acoustic love song to make you feel loved. That it is, for sure. The song is just two things - simple fingerpicking and a silvery voice to…
Ehsaas’ music reminds me of the first time I heard a tune that would haunt me for the rest of my life. That would influence my taste in music forever. We’ve all had one of those songs. I had three. Twenty-eight years ago, a senior played…
I can sense the enthusiasm in Madhav Krishna’s voice when we talk about his maiden collaboration Ennodu Vaa with composer Prateek Gandhi. Interestingly, this is also the first time he is singing in his mother tongue, Tamil. Krishna, who has a bevy of hits to…