SHREYA BOSE
Indie Reviews
Poorna Swaraj (RollsRoy’s): All good hip-hop is incendiary. No matter
how good the “beat” is, hip-hop that leaves a legacy embodies rage,
despair and rebellion. It’s hard to remember which rapper sports
how much bling when Biggie and Kendrick Lamar come on.
If you prefer to stay unperturbed by a rapidly fracturing world, then this one is
best given a miss. This seven membered ensemble sputter a scathing indictment
of a malice-driven political system and a state of humanity that is most politely
described as troublesome. However, this lot tosses politeness to the rear and
take on every societal and political ill that seems to plague our present.
What comes to the fore is the concept of poorna swaraj : complete freedom. In common parlance, democracy
conjures the image of complete freedom, especially pertaining to speech and opinion. Disruptions in such
freedom usually translate to disruptions in democracy, which is the song’s central question.
A fiery anthem to the act of questioning everything, Poorna Swaraj is bound to get you riled up and ruminate about most things
that you might take for granted or even avoid. Get angry, get curious, at the very least, get yourself to start questioning.
This track isn’t one to be played in the background. It demands unadulterated attention, it deserves to be chewed
upon, and is entitled to a visceral reaction (the nature of which is, obviously, entirely your prerogative). It's the
kind of song that forces you to take sides, or, at the very least, abandon conformity for a few glorious moments.
It needs to be heard.
Nothing For Our Own (Hanita Bhambri): You know how Prateek Kuhaad’s music feels like he
has listened in on your most decidedly unspoken thoughts, and then wrote about them?
Hanita Bhambri might have a knack for the same uncanny clairvoyance. Her debut
EP is the very picture of adolescent vulnerability, but she manages to transcend the
attachments and obsessions of her age to reach wider resonance with her music.
Let Me Go is both plea and power. While she reveals personal conflict, there is an
inherent conviction in her ability to transcend it. She stays with her emotions, and
is obviously exorcising them through her art. I Tried is the same, in which she lays
bare the devastation of heartbreak, but instead of using common metaphors to denote
sadness, she actually owns up to the many slip and blunders that occur in their throes of agony.
Nothing For Our Own and Be Patient are more introspective, with Bhambri turning internal conversations into whimsical
melody. They are best sung to no one in particular, because the songs sound like skillful commentaries on the self.
None of what Bhambri sings about is new, but she takes the oldest ideas in the world and adds the unique
signature of personal involvement - something that is impossible to replicate. The EP is her story, and
what makes it striking is that it becomes all our stories without any effort on her part or ours.
22
The
Score Magazine
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