Garnet Eye( Calico):
Calico is a band that I believe can make us fall in love with them. Their debut single is unceasingly delightful. Vocalist Ivan Imkong sounds like he would fit right into lantern-lit festivals on starlist beaches, the kind of place you go to with the intention of meeting poetic strangers sipping drinks whose names you have never heard of. His voice is half-mystique, half-tease. The instrumental arrangement is unutterably smooth; the musical equivalent of a glass of Glenmorangie( aged 15 years). Not a breath out of synchronicity, each note and syllable know their place and do their part to form a slick, roll-off-your-tongue sensibility. You are immediately drawn in, and I can promise you, if this song started playing just as you were about to leave, you’ d stay and say“ One more song”.
Words like“ We turned ourselves to rust / Saw flowers turn to dust” leave you plenty to wonder about. I won’ t try telling you what they are singing about, because I believe that the listener should be spinning their own stories. The band’ s admission of what they have in mind mid-composition is open-ended, they also insist on keeping the open vulnerable to wide interpretation.
Garnet Eye combines the vague romplike quality of a less mature Portishead with generous doses of luxurious R & B and funk. It exudes exceptional pleasantness, and you would be well influenced to do some swaying yourself.
Storm the Studio( Arshaq Malik):
I’ ve always felt that concept albums or EPs are challenging for artists and reviewers alike. The artist might have exceptionally clear narratives in mind, and they might communicate it just fine. But given the predilections of individual listeners, it is possible for the story to be modified, disrupted or entirely disregarded. And while the diversity of interpretation is what gives humanity any colour, the idea that the stories carved into Rush’ s 2112 or Bon Iver’ s For Emma, Forever Ago might not be reaching us in their pristine originality is depressing.
I’ m not sure what Arshaq Malik’ s Storm the Studio attempts to speak of. It meanders with an ominous rhythm. Guttural tones mingle with an electronically bound march beat of sorts. The image of dystopia is clear, but you aren’ t sure how it pans out. Are we talking street fights over a scrap of dry bread, or shadowed overlords keeping citizens drowsy and emotionally decrepit by dosing their beer with Haldol? Either way, the track builds significant anticipation for the upcoming four song EP‘ Andromeda 2050’ that it is part of. Apparently, it carries tales of good vs evil: rage, disdain and devastation are clear markers, if the single is anything to go by.
Storm the Studio deliciously embraces a gritty aftertone and turns in into neotribal half beats awash in cymbals and futuristic dread. Think the oppression of Dhalgren, but with streets lit up like Blade Runner.
Stand Still( Saltwater):
Clichés ring true more often than not. Musicians seeking stability in their sound when life sees fit to throw turbulence is a tiresome, common trope. But we are left with little to complain about if the resultant sound is good. In this case, it is sheer, soft, unimposing beauty.
Keyboardist Vyoma Shah and vocalist Medha Sahi met while teaching at Mumbai’ s True School of Music. They realised that their musical tastes aligned, and turned their love of Norah Jones, John Mayer and Esperanza Spalding into collaborative composition. Their debut single reminds you of the joys of balmy winds and whispering leaves. Medha celebrates the desire to be still as the playful pleasantries of Vyoma’ s keyboard materialise the theme in sound. The lightest percussive touch is sufficient to establish their disdain for the“ rush” and the metaphorical“ earthquake”.
“ I’ ve been running for a long time / Trying to leave the truth behind”. The lyrics are overtly straightforward without reliance on aimless poetics. It serves the purpose well, as the song is structured to peek into exhausted souls and offer them a gospel of endurance.
As they say“ Don’ t move, don’ t / Don’ t break, Don’ t break.”
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