WORLD TOUR #19 INDIA 2026
Sun Never Sets On Music's never-ending World Tour heads to India and finds a contemporary musical underground that offers an astonishing wealth of music.
Away from the massive commercial gravity of Bollywood (the mainstream film industry) and conventional commercial pop, Indian independent artists are fundamentally reshaping subcontinental music. Over recent years, the region's most influential breakthroughs have occurred in the spaces where classical Hindustani and Carnatic frameworks collide with avant-garde electronics, dark ambient textures, jazz fusion, radical hip-hop, and post-rock.
Our World Tour #19 India 2026 includes album reviews, playlist and youtube videos for around thirty exciting, ground-breaking artists.
Ranjha
SHYE BEN TZUR, JONNY GREENWOOD AND THE RAJHASTAN EXPRESS
Released 8 May 2026
Junun / World Circuit
****-
A rich, devotional cross-cultural work that combines qawwali, brass band and cinematic arrangement - expansive, spiritual and shaped by remarkable collective generosity.
The collaboration between Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and The Rajasthan Express has always felt less like a side project than a distinct musical world. First introduced through 2015’s Junun, recorded at Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur and later documented by Paul Thomas Anderson, the project brought together Ben Tzur’s Hebrew- and Urdu-language devotional compositions, Greenwood’s textural sensitivity and the extraordinary brass, percussion and vocal traditions of Rajasthan’s local musicians.
Rather than presenting East-West fusion as a spectacle, the music thrived on shared purpose and spiritual openness. Ranjha, their second full-length statement, deepens that language, less ecstatic in surface energy perhaps, but even richer in emotional and compositional depth.
Ranjha succeeds on slightly shifted grounds, as there is no longer any sense of separate traditions being carefully stitched together for effect; instead, the album moves with the confidence of a language already shared. Brass fanfares, hand percussion, harmonium drones, devotional vocals and Greenwood’s subtle harmonic architecture all exist inside the same emotional frame, each element serving the song rather than the concept.
Where Junun gravitated around axes of communal celebration and rhythmic immediacy, Ranjha leans into deeper territory. The title track is emblematic of this shift - spacious, patient and emotionally suspended, allowing Ben Tzur’s vocal lines to carry a sense of spiritual longing without forcing resolution.
The Rajasthan Express remains extraordinary throughout, especially in the brass arrangements, where exuberance and precision coexist without stiffness. Their playing gives the music its physical joy, even in quieter moments.
Greenwood’s role is characteristically understated, but essential to the contemporaneous whole. Rather than dominating arrangements, he shapes atmosphere: guitar textures, harmonic framing and the instinct to leave space for others to fill. This restraint makes the album work. This is not a Jonny Greenwood project featuring world music; it is an ensemble record, built on attentiveness within the ensemble.
However, alongside the musical expression, it is the devotional dimension that gives Ranjha its true centre. These songs are not performed as aesthetic exercises, but as acts of belief and shared attention. The result is music that feels intimate and communal - expansive without becoming grandiose: a rare record where beauty arrives through humility.
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Landscapes of Eternity
NAISSAM JALAL
Released 27 March 2026
Les couleurs du son
*****
Another stunning release that seamlessly blends modern and classical elements in original music that explores the connection between music, nature, and spirituality at the heart of the Hindustani tradition.
The daughter of Syrian-born parents, who were painters, Naïssam Jalal is a Paris-based flautist, composer and bandleader whose work bridges jazz, Middle Eastern traditions and political expression. Raised in France, she initially trained in classical music before turning toward rap, jazz and improvised forms, touring widely in various guises before deepening her studies in Cairo, where she immersed herself in Arabic maqam and traditional flute techniques.
Her career has been marked by a series of conceptually driven projects, often exploring themes of exile, identity and freedom. Albums such as Osloob Hayati (2015) and Quest of the Invisible (2019) established her as a distinctive voice, while later works, including Almot Wala Almazala (“Death Before Humiliation”) (2026) foregrounded her engagement with the Syrian uprising and broader questions of resistance.
Jalal’s ensembles are fluid and collaborative, drawing musicians from across cultures. Her music combines spiritual jazz, modal improvisation and narrative intent, positioning her as one of Europe’s most compelling and innovative contemporary jazz artists.
Although shaped through a contemporary and deeply personal lens, the music of Landscapes of Eternity is rooted in the language of Indian classical music. Traveling alone in North India for several months, Jalal wandered through landscapes and sacred sites, met masters and musicians, absorbed the sounds, smells and sensations of this unique journey and in doing so invites a new way of listening to the world. From this experience emerged an intimate, contemplative, and profound repertoire, where the flute becomes the vehicle for an inner journey rooted in the breath of life.
Landscapes of Eternity also draws on Jalal’s many years of exploring the intricacies of Hindustani music and the sensory and imaginative worlds it evokes. The instrumentation blends modern and classical elements, and she brings together Indian classical musicians Samrat Pandit on vocals, Sougata Roy Chowdhury on sarod and Nabankur Bhattacharya on tablas with Franco-Brazilian pianist Leonardo Montana, Brazilian drummer Zaza Desiderio and Flo Comment on tanpura, to create a sound that is both current yet grounded in tradition.
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YouTube
Sanctuary
ALAM KHAN, VIJAY IYER & NITIN MITTA
Released 5 December 2025
AMMP
****-
An intimate, improvisational meeting of musical diversity, Sanctuary distills three masters into a luminous small form, where tradition, virtuosity and curiosity meet in real time.
Sanctuary brings together three musicians rooted in deep and distinct musical lineages. Alam Khan, sarodist and son of the legendary Ali Akbar Khan, carries the classical Maihar Gharana tradition with both reverence and adventurous spirit. Vijay Iyer, one of the most influential pianists/composers of his generation, has spent decades probing the intersections of jazz, classical, and global musics. Nitin Mitta, a tabla virtuoso with long collaborative history with both, enriches the dialogue with rhythmic dexterity and openness.
Rather than a meticulously planned project, Sanctuary was born from a spontaneous, two-day session in California, an improvised dialogue rooted in mutual respect and curiosity. The result is not an exercise in fusion for its own sake, but a real-time conversation between sonic worlds, where tradition guides, but does not confine.
Sanctuary unfolds with the spaciousness of shared listening rather than compositional declaration. The title track sets a contemplative tone: Alam Khan’s sarod lines arc with modal grace, Iyer’s piano and Fender Rhodes punctuate with rhythmic subtlety, and Mitta’s tabla articulates time with quiet logic. What feels remarkable is the EP’s absence of grand statement — instead, a sense of unfolding, of musical ideas gently co-alescing.
“Crossing” opens with a sense of inquiry: phrases stretch out, overlapping like waves, with all three players responding more than asserting. “New Day” closes the set with a subtly rising optimism — motifs weave in and out, sometimes near silence, sometimes more insistent, always attentive to each other’s impulses.
Throughout, the trio avoids showcasing technique for effect; instead, they carve space for breath, nuance, and dialogue. The improvisations are neither dense nor lean: they are engaged, patient, and grounded.
Sanctuary is a delicate gem — modest in length but rich in implication. It affirms the power of improvisation as listening, and offers a glimpse of what can emerge when equal voices meet in openness. Highly recommended for listeners drawn to contemporary intersections of South Asian classical and jazz-informed thought.
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Syncretic
BHAIRAVI RAMAN, NANTHESH SIVARAJAH
Released 26 November 2025
Efficient Space
*****
A luminous, contemporary fusion masterpiece and a continuation of Melbourne/Naarm’s four-decade legacy of pan-Asian artistic dialogue.
Melbourne/Naarm has long been a vital site for cross-cultural experimentation within Asian and South Asian communities. Since the 1980s, artists have challenged inherited boundaries, blending classical forms with contemporary practice in music, dance, and theatre. Landmark initiatives such as the Bharatam Dance Company, founded by the visionary pan-Asian choreographer Dr. Chandrabanu in collaboration with artist Geoffrey Goldie, helped establish a uniquely antipodean approach to syncretism: one grounded in deep respect for tradition yet unafraid of transformation.
Syncretic, by Australian duo Bhairavi Raman, a Western and Carnatic violinist from South India, and Nanthesh Sivarajah, a mridangam (a double-headed barrel drum) player and versatile percussionist from Sri Lanka, emerges from this lineage. Both artists are steeped in South Indian classical traditions, yet fully engaged with jazz, contemporary classical, and global improvisatory languages. Rather than treating fusion as surface-level hybridity, they approach it as an ethical and musical practice, a conversation between systems of rhythm, melody, and spiritual intent.
Syncretic unfolds with rare balance and assurance. Raman’s violin is agile, luminous, and emotionally grounded as she navigates Carnatic melodic frameworks while opening outward toward jazz phrasing and contemporary harmonic space. Sivarajah’s rhythmic architecture is equally expansive, drawing on South Indian tala while incorporating timbres and structures that feel globally conversant rather than stylistically “mixed.”
What distinguishes the album is its compositional integrity. Each piece feels carefully shaped, allowing raga-based exploration, improvisation, and ensemble interaction to coexist without hierarchy. Resisting spectacle, the music breathes with a sense of shared purpose as it moves between meditative stillness and kinetic momentum. This fusion represents traditions evolving in dialogue, rather than for effect: tradition absorbed, expanded and reframed.
The production favors clarity and intimacy, ensuring that the nuance of microtonal inflections, rhythmic detail, and dynamic shifts remains central.
Syncretic is both a milestone and a reminder that Melbourne’s long-standing culture of cross-disciplinary experimentation remains fertile, rigorous, and forward-looking. Elegant, grounded, and deeply communicative, it belongs among the finest fusion recordings to emerge from this lineage.
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Souffles
NAÏSSAM JALAL
ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE BRETAGNE GUEST IMPROVISERS
Released 30 May 2025
****-
A work of breath, spirit and conviction, Souffles is a radiant new pinnacle in Jalal’s quest for trans-cultural musical healing.
French-Syrian composer, flautist and vocalist Naïssam Jalal has become a vital voice in progressive European music, blending Arabic classical traditions with free jazz, Sufi mysticism, and contemporary chamber music. A collaborator of artists like Hamid Drake and Claude Tchamitchian, she’s known for forging emotionally rich, cross-cultural soundscapes rooted in both discipline and improvisational freedom.
Souffles is the most expansive statement yet from Jalal’s evolving musical vision, a richly orchestrated, deeply human work that elevates breath itself into an instrument of spiritual and political resonance. Commissioned by and performed with the Orchestre National de Bretagne, the album layers Jalal’s signature bamboo and Western flutes, incantatory vocals, and spoken word passages over dynamic, occasionally minimalist string and horn arrangements.
What sets this apart is how organically it marries composed and improvised sections. Pianist Leonardo Montana and percussionist Zaza Desiderio add instinctual rhythmic interplay that offsets the formality of the orchestral setting. Jalal herself alternates between serenity and urgency, especially on tracks like “Respire!” and “Révolte,” which channel ecological and social themes without ever turning didactic.
There’s genuine innovation in the compositional language, hovering somewhere between Sufi devotional song, Arabic maqam, French impressionism, and ECM-like spaciousness. Crucially, it never feels like pastiche. Jalal's intimate relationship with her instruments, and her causes, imbues Souffles with sincerity and depth.
Read more ... Bandcamp
ڪڏهن ملنداسين
Kadahin Milandaasin
TARUN BALANI
Released 16 May 2025
*****
Blending South Asian, Persian and Arab influences, Balani’s jazz elegy for Sindh is conceptually unified, emotionally layered, and musically sophisticated
Tarun Balani is an Indian drummer, composer, and producer whose work traverses modern jazz, electronica, and South Asian traditional forms. Based in New Delhi and trained at Berklee, he leads multiple projects including Dharma and Seasonal Affected Beats. Balani’s music is conceptually ambitious, rhythmically intricate, and emotionally resonant, often exploring identity and displacement.
On ڪڏهن ملنداسين (Kadahin Milandaasin), Tarun Balani offers his most personal statement to date - an album rooted in ancestral memory and shaped by present-day diasporic yearning. The title track, a brief yet aching invocation, sets the emotional compass: this is music of longing, imagined reunion, and cultural reassembly. Joined by his Dharma Quartet - Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Sharik Hasan (piano/synth), and Olli Hirvonen (guitar) - Balani creates a meditative but restlessly alive soundscape where tradition and innovation speak in hushed tones.
“Lajpat Nagar Sometimes” opens the set with brushed grooves and cautious melodic searching, evoking urban transience. “The Laburnum Blooms” and “Locusts Are Descending” stretch out with patient, layered improvisations, their open-ended forms allowing for microtonal trumpet cries and glistening synth textures. “ٻوڏ Sailaab” (Flood) is densely rhythmic and impressionistic, while “Samadhi 02.11.2024” folds ambient minimalism into spiritual reflection. The album’s closer, “For Every Man Saved A Victim Will Be Found,” leaves no easy catharsis - its title alone suggests unresolved legacies and the moral weight of survival.
Balani’s use of Sindhi text and subtle vocal layering adds historical and emotional heft without falling into pastiche. This is music for memory work - not nostalgic, but vividly present, and quietly radical in its refusal to exoticize.
Read more ... Bandcamp
The Mumbai Exchange
EX GENERATION
Released 20 November 2024
Energy Exchange Records
****-
A joyful act of cultural time-travel that reanimates vintage Indian pop through contemporary grooves, global beats and deep musical curiosity.
Ex Generation is a fluid, borderless collective shaped by migration, collaboration, and crate-digging imagination. At its core sits drummer and producer Ziggy Zeitgeist, a peripatetic presence across Melbourne, Berlin, and London, whose work consistently bridges scenes rather than genres. For the project he works with Lewis Moody (keys, programming, arranging) and after an extensive digging period through rare and eclectic Bollywood Disco records from the 70s and 80s, the pair set about putting together an A-team of studio musicians versed in both Indian Classical and Bollywood, including award winning vocalists Vinay Sugatha Ramadasan and Anuja Zokarkar.
Known for blending jazz, funk, hip-hop, and global dance forms, Zeitgeist approaches music as an exchange rather than a fusion. On The Mumbai Exchange, that philosophy comes sharply into focus: decades-old Mumbai pop becomes a living source (revived as a collaborator, more than a sample) that is reframed through application of contemporary production, improvisation, beats and affects.
The result is an affectionate pastiche that seeks to wrangle the competing interests of retro kitsch and cultural appropriation against the fertile artistic ground for reinvention.
Drawing from film songs and popular styles of the ’60s through ’80s, Ex Generation lifts melodic motifs, harmonic gestures, and vocal inflections into a modern groove-based context.
Beats are central: crisp, danceable, but never overbearing. Funk basslines, jazz-informed drumming, electronic textures, and live instrumentation coexist fluidly, allowing the original melodies to breathe while giving them renewed momentum. The production resists polish-for-polish’s-sake, retaining the grain and pulse of communal energy.
In this way, a balance is found and the low-gloss tone feels consistent with the original sounds, like a conversation across time and geography.
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A Sound Heart
JAUBI
Released 6 September 2024
Jaubi Music - Riaz Records
*****
Sometimes, when you want to take a step forward, you have to look back and reckon with and learn from the past. That’s what Jaubi has done and the effects are enchanting.
Three years after recording their breakthrough debut, 2021’s Nafs at Peace, Pakistani jazz trio Jaubi flew to London (with a short stopover in Poland resulting in In Search of a Better Tomorrow, a collaborative record with Polish jazz band EABS) to record its follow-up.
Accompanied by producer and multi-instrumentalist Tenderlonious, Polish keyboard and synth player Latarnik, and a slew of London jazz scene members - most notably bass guitarist Horatio Luna, drummer Tim Carnegie, and trumpeter Nick Walters - Jaubi (led by guitarist Ali Riaz Baqar) turned to modal and spiritual jazz and blended it with South Asian classical music.
A Sound Heart continues the story Jaubi began on Nafs at Peace.
Jaubi divided the record into two distinct sides: Dynamic, fast “Desire” and mellower “Devotion,” evoking late night jam sessions in New York clubs. On the latter, Latarnik turns into a piano crooner, leaving his signature synths aside. The title track, dedicated both to Bill Evans and Riaz Baqar’s father, offers a near-perfect blend of classic jazz and classic South Asian music. Sarangi mingles with piano; Tenderlonious’s flute sounds more like bansuri. Some tracks lean more into the South Asian elements - “Raga Bhairavi Todi” or “Forgive Me (Raga Parameshwari)” - and in those moments Jaubi feel at their strongest, most focused, and reflective.
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Night Reign
AROOJ AFTAB
Released 31 May 2023
Verve
The music holds visual context, a cinematic soundscape that brings life to the divinely ominous space we call the dark.
Some songs can only be heard at night - lunar lyrics for evening ears. It’s the songs of the night that stand us tall in the day, eyes filled with the work of stars. What voices will we take into our liminal slumber? What patterns and pieces will break open the night mind’s path?
Arooj Aftab answers these questions through, Night Reign. Within the realm of darkness, Night Reign points to layers of depth that blend each song into a narrative of uplifting surrender.
Night Reign is an act of tender defiance. Protest and prayer. It’s not geographical affiliations or the details of her birth certificate that awakens Arooj’s listeners. It’s her refusal to adhere to the limitations of race, borders, and gender, though her work is intricately tied to these malleable ideas.
Night Reign is an invitation or a call to action. This album permits us to give into the night because, in the night, we come into form, into the messiness of our whole beings.
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Nilam
GANAVYA
Released 23 May 2025
*****
A meditative journey through Tamil spiritual traditions and ambient minimalism.
Ganavya Doraiswamy is a New York-born, Tamil Nadu-raised vocalist and transdisciplinary artist whose work bridges South Indian classical traditions, spiritual jazz, and ambient minimalism. A Fulbright scholar and Berklee-trained musician, she has collaborated with artists like Shabaka Hutchings, Floating Points, and Sault. Her 2024 album Daughter of a Temple was named one of The Guardian’s Top 10 Global Albums, praised for its communal resonance and spiritual depth. Ganavya’s music often draws from Tamil devotional forms, such as abhangs and bhajans, reinterpreted through contemporary experimental frameworks. Her voice—described by The New York Times as “prayerful”—anchors her genre-defying explorations of identity, grief, and transcendence.
Nilam, meaning “land” in Tamil, is Ganavya’s most intimate and elemental work to date. Co-produced with Nils Frahm at Berlin’s Funkhaus, the album emerged serendipitously during a brief pause between tour dates. The result is a meditative suite that feels both grounded and otherworldly, a sonic space where stillness becomes a form of resistance.
The album opens with “Land,” a sparse invocation that sets the tone for what follows: songs that unfold like prayers, rooted in Tamil spiritual traditions yet filtered through ambient minimalism. “Pasayadan,” an abhang from the pilgrimage tradition, is reimagined as a hymn for collective healing, while “Nine Jeweled Prayer,” featuring her parents, stretches into a nearly ten-minute meditation on ancestral memory.
Ganavya’s voice is the album’s anchor—soft yet unyielding, intimate yet expansive. Tracks like “Sees Fire,” inspired by her social media ban for advocating a ceasefire in Gaza, channel political grief into quiet defiance. Throughout, harpist Charles Overton and bassist Max Ridley provide subtle textures that enhance the album’s contemplative mood.
Nilam doesn’t seek to dazzle; it invites listeners into a shared stillness, offering a space for reflection and grounding. It’s a powerful reminder that in a world of noise, silence can be a profound act of presence.
Read more ... Bandcamp | LEITER | Boomkat
Daughter of a Temple
GANAVYA
Released 15 November 2024
*****
Daughter of a Temple’s purpose, ganavya will tell you, is that people “know there’s a village for you, always in the ether. The worlds we dream of are possible when we come at it with the right amount of discipline and devotion. I hope that’s what resonates with them, that it tells the story of this random girl who dreamed of this world and then it manifested itself. I hope it makes them feel less alone, because that’s what it did for me. I think of it as proof that prayer works and love exists…”
‘Daughter of a Temple’ was recorded over a week in 2022 at the Moore’s Opera House in Houston, Texas, after ganavya had reached out to friends and associates over the preceding months to join her for “a gathering in and for devotion”. This was to draw on studies of what she terms the musico-philosophies of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, and she’d even promised herself she’d invite anyone who brought up Turiyasangitananda’s name around her. “You really shouldn’t do that,” she chuckles. “It turns out a lot of people talk about her!”
Consequently, the album – which also brings the Hindu tradition of harikatha into the 21st century – draws upon a vast cast of contributors across multiple disciplines, among them esperanza spalding, Vijay Iyer, Shabaka Hutchings, Immanuel Wilkins, Peter Sellars, Rajna Swaminathan, Charlotte Braithwaite, Chris Sholar, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Bindhumalini Narayanswamy. Her mother even helped cook for participants. The results, an innovative and deeply moving blend of spiritual jazz and South Asian devotional music, were initially recorded and edited by Ryan Renteria, then further edited and mixed by Nils Frahm at LEITER’s Funkhaus studio in 2024.
Read more ... LEITER
Maujuda
PARVYN
Released 1 November 2024
Parvyn Bennett
*****
Parvyn Singh is a Punjabi Australian singer, dancer and musician based in Adelaide. Best known for her work as vocalist in cult psychedelic band The Bombay Royale. Her work is informed by electronica and jazz, her background in Sikh devotional music and her training in classical Indian music and dance. In addition, Parvyn has spent her life on stage touring internationally with her father Dya Singh.
Centred around finding one’s path in life, the 7 tracks explore different stories and perspectives in discovery and acceptance, opening with the first single and self love anthem ‘Free To Be Myself’.
Touching on the complexities of migrating to a new place, ‘Lay Awake’ is told through the story of her grandmother ‘bebeji’, with commentary on ‘how migrants sometimes hold on to their culture so tightly that it can cause a rift between generations, not realising that back in their homeland it has progressed and modernised’ describes Parvyn. The material includes moments of introspection in the new single ‘New Game’, and ‘Divine’, woven between instrumental improvisation from Parvyn’s husband Josh Bennett on electric guitar, and lyrics in Urdu/Punjabi in ‘Huna Lai Jio’ as the track touches on the importance of community and finding your people, and ending the musical voyage at album closer ‘Back to the Ocean’.
Read more ... Bandcamp
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
SANDUNES
Released 17 November 2023
Tru Thoughts
An evocative, genre-fluid exploration of collective humanity, blending field recordings and electronic textures into a deeply sentimental home of sound.
Sandunes is the artistic project of Sanaya Ardeshir, a composer, producer, and sound artist originally from Mumbai, India, now based in Los Angeles. Classically trained on the piano, she is celebrated for her genre-bending sound that blends organic orchestration, globally-inspired electronic beats, and R&B elements
"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" is a brilliant electronic mosaic blending intricate Indian classical rhythms with lush, organic textures, resulting in a deeply grounded yet soaring exploratory electronic music experience.
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Still But Moving
ANHAD + TANNER
Released 14 August 2024
Anhad + Tanner
A gorgeous collision of Hindustani classical tradition and contemporary jazz, masterfully balancing quiet, reflective stillness with vibrant rhythmic motion.
Anhad + Tanner are a music duo based in New Delhi, India and Durham, North Carolina. Their music is inspired from the sounds of Asian Underground and Indian Electronica.
"Still But Moving" is a stunning ambient-jazz collision pairing delicate contemporary classical piano with ethereal soundscapes, perfectly capturing a serene balance between tranquil stillness and fluid, cinematic motion.
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Spotify
AZLI
AHMER
Released 1 July 2022
Azidi Records
A ferocious, deeply personal hip-hop masterpiece channeling the systemic trauma and political conflict of Kashmir through raw folk-infused storytelling.
Ahmer is a prolific rapper & producer from Srinagar, Kashmir. Since a young age, he has been acutely aware of the violence that plagues that valley, & his lyrics reflect a self-critical & self-aware artist that is trying to make sense of one of the most complex issues of our time. Ahmer manages to introduce to people to the complexities of the Kashmiri people & the conflict that defines them
"AZLI " is a visceral, politically charged hip-hop masterpiece that anchors raw Kashmiri poetry in heavy, experimental beats to deliver an intensely powerful sonic exploration of identity.
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Z of A
MINAXI
Released 1 August 2025
Minaxi
An immersive, guitar-driven alternative rock odyssey capturing the chaotic, neon-drenched essence of New Delhi with blistering atmospheric intensity.
The Brooklyn, USA-based quartet of Steve Carlin (Drums)., Thomas Herndon (Bass), Liam Christian (Guitar, Vocals and Arrangements) and Shrenik Ganatra (Guitar, Vocals and Orchestration) develop an otherworldly wall of sound through a fusion of shoegaze, psych, ambient music and Hindustani music.
"The Z of A", the first installment of a double album, examines humanity’s fractured relationship with technology, identity, and emotion in a hyperconnected, globally disrupted age. This stunning, atmospheric masterpiece weaves Hindustani classical modal structures directly into heavy, cinematic walls of shoegaze and ambient drone.
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The Fall
KOMOREBI
Released 8 September 2023
Gravity Sounds
A breathtakingly vulnerable, cinematic electronic-pop journey that brilliantly navigates the dark, unstable terrain of personal undoing and ultimate rebirth.
Komorebi’ is a unique electronic-alternative act from New Delhi, India and the musical baby of Tarana Marwah. Komorebi was recently nominated for the MTV European Music Award 2019 for "Best Indian Act", and was featured as a guest vocalist on U2's Pride Remix Album released in December 2019.
"The Fall" is Tarana Marwah’s glitchy, electronic opus. Built around dense classical piano architecture, rich vocal layers, and IDM (intelligent dance music), it carries an intense, theatrical narrative arc. .
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Dabba Cartel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
GAURAV RAINA, KOMOREBI
Released 5 May 2025
Universal Music India / Excel Entertainment
A gritty, high-octane sonic thriller fusing tense electronic beats and dramatic motifs to perfectly anchor the show's dark underworld.
Gaurav Raina, one half of the pioneering Indian electronica duo Midival Punditz, joins forces with Komorebi (Tarana Marwah), a brilliant electronic producer and multi-instrumentalist. Together, they form a powerhouse pairing in India’s indie circuit, seamlessly blending cutting-edge electronic beats, cinematic ambient textures, and rich Indian classical influences into highly atmospheric sonic landscapes.
Dabba Cartel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a taut, 7-track sonic companion to Netflix’s gritty crime drama. Raina and Komorebi deliver a masterful blend of pulse-raising industrial rhythms, haunting synth motifs, and dark, brooding instrumentals. It perfectly mirrors the show's suspenseful shift from workaday tiffin deliveries to dangerous underground cartel operations
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Anita Dongre Rewild
GAURAV RAINA, KOMOREBI, CURTAIN BLUE
Released 11 November 2023
Gravity Sounds
A gritty, high-octane sonic thriller fusing tense electronic beats and dramatic motifs to perfectly anchor the show's dark underworld.
This project unites three visionaries of Indian electronic music: Midival Punditz’s Gaurav Raina, a pioneer of folktronica; Komorebi (Tarana Marwah), celebrated for her whimsical, layer-heavy synth-pop; and Curtain Blue (Abhishek Bhatia), known for his dark, glitchy, and deeply emotive vocal productions. Together, they create a formidable triumvirate that effortlessly bridges ancient heritage with contemporary underground electronica.
Anita Dongre Rewild is an immersive, 7-track audio canvas designed for the iconic designer’s high-fashion showcase. Melding the earthy, haunting Rajasthani folk vocals of Bhanwari Devi and Nathulal Solanki's percussion with slick, modern soundscapes, the EP is an evocative journey. It flows beautifully between traditional celebratory melodies like "Shringaar" and "Mehendi" and lush, hypnotic electronic textures.
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The Divine Androgyne
(Gaurav Gupta Couture 2026)
GAURAV RAINA, KOMOREBI, CURTAIN BLUE
Released 27 January 2026
Gravity Records
A hypnotic, avant-garde electronic score mapping metaphysical philosophy and fluid human anatomy onto haute couture with striking, industrial precision.
Gaurav Raina (one-half of the legendary Indian electronica duo Midival Punditz) is a pioneering producer and composer who expertly bridges ancient classical traditions with cutting-edge global electronic music.
Komorebi (Tarana Marwah) is an avant-garde electronic producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist celebrated for her whimsical, cinematic soundscapes and deeply layered, ethereal vocal styling and Curtain Blue is the solo project of vocalist and producer Abhishek Bhatia, known for combining haunting, emotive vocal textures with dark, heavily textured experimental bass music.
"The Divine Androgyne (Gaurav Gupta Couture 2026)" was crafted specifically as the sonic backbone for designer Gaurav Gupta's Paris Haute Couture Week show. Gupta is an avant-garde Indian couturier. Gupta's work has been featured in events such Paris Haute Couture Week. His work is characterized by his origami style sculptural style patterns with pleating and lifting.
The mesmerizing seven-track album explores the philosophy of Advaita (non-duality). The trio brilliantly dissolves boundaries by interweaving ritualistic Sanskrit-inspired concepts- like "Sivasakti" and "Ardhanari"- with shimmering modular synths, haunting vocal loops, and dramatic, cosmic electronica. The result is a striking, otherworldly soundtrack where ancient spiritual architecture seamlessly meets futuristic runway theater.
Play it on repeat - 14 minutes is not enough!
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MNEMONIC (EP)
YUHINA
Released 13 December 2026
Krunk Culture
A spellbinding, nostalgic ambient-electronic EP that folds memory and time into delicate, cinematic loops of pure new age bliss.
Yuhina (Yuhina Lhamu Lachungpa) is a Gangtok-raised, Bengaluru-based vocalist, songwriter, and producer who transitioned from a career in product design to music. Mirroring influences like Grimes, Rosalia and Björk, her music weaves ethereal, vocal-centric electronica with deep spiritual undercurrents, establishing her as a powerful, distinct voice in the Indian indie circuit.
Released via Krunk Kulture, Mnemonic is a deeply cathartic 5-track debut EP exploring identity, grief, and rebirth. Co-produced with Reuel Immanuel, the record brilliantly fuses trippy, shapeshifting trip-hop with lush ambient textures. Highlights include the neon-lit freedom of "OMW" and "For Chenrezig," a haunting, "tribal-futurism" adaptation of a traditional Buddhist chant.
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Sutra (EP)
RUSHA & BLIZZA
Released 5 May 2023
Universal Music India
A bass-heavy, innovative folktronica powerhouse that completely redefines traditional Indian vocal samples through a dark, futuristic club lens.
Comprising New Delhi-based duo Paurush Kumar (Rusha) and Aman Khullar (Blizza), Rusha & Blizza are trailblazers of India's experimental bass scene. By day a lawyer and businessman respectively, together they assemble a signature "tribal trap" sound that aggressively fuses heavy dubstep, future bass, and glitchy sound design with indigenous Indian instrumentation.
The 6-track Sutra EP is an arresting exercise in boundary-pushing folktronica. Striking a fierce balance between analogue warmth and futuristic digital precision, the duo layers traditional rhythmic patterns with heavy 808 trap baselines. From the kinetic, vocal-chopped energy of "Kaise" to the dark, stomping syncopation of "Kaal," it delivers an intoxicating, club-ready epic.
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Tijori
TECH PANDA, KENZANI
Released 12 August 2024
Grooveland Records
A massive, sample-heavy masterclass transforming dusty lo-fi hip-hop beats and rich traditional Indian classical strings into absolute soul food.
New Delhi-based producer-DJ duo Tech Panda (Rupinder Nanda) and Kenzani (Kedar Santwani) are frontrunners in India's modern folktronica wave. Since uniting in 2020, they have captured the imagination of clubgoers by treating Indian classical ragas and heritage folk melodies not as window dressing, but as structural foundations for house, techno, and downtempo electronica.
Spanning an ambitious 21 tracks, Tijori (2024) functions as a literal treasure chest of the duo's evolution. The expansive album split-screens between two worlds: a nostalgic, downtempo first half featuring sample-heavy lofi hip-hop and brilliant classical cameos - like Rekha Bhardwaj on "Pyaar Bhare"- before transitioning into high-energy, four-to-the-floor tech-house and garage bangers tailored specifically for their live sets.
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Turbulence Concerto
(Live at Neues Gewandhaus Leipzig, Germany)
DR. L SUBRAMANIAM
AMBI SUBRAMANIAM
LEIPZIG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Released 5 October 2024
Dr. L Subramaniam
A majestic, cross-cultural live triumph where soaring Carnatic violin lines brilliantly collide with the thundering power of a Western symphony.
Dr. L. Subramaniam is an internationally acclaimed violin virtuoso, composer, and conductor who bridged East and West long before "global fusion" became a buzzword. Trained meticulously in Carnatic classical music while holding a Master’s degree in Western classical composition, his staggering microtonal technique and symphonic orchestrations have made him the definitive global face of the Indian violin.
Turbulence Concerto (Live at Neues Gewandhaus Leipzig, Germany) captures a historic orchestral cross-pollination. Performing alongside his son Ambi Subramaniam - a prodigiously talented virtuoso mirroring his father’s technical precision and carrying forward the family’s dual-tradition legacy - Dr. Subramaniam steers a breathtaking 3-movement masterpiece.
Leipzig's Neues Gewandhaus was a particularly suitable stage for the performance for its legendary acoustics and deeply rooted history in Western classical innovation, making it the ultimate setting to showcase such a profound dialogue between East and West.
The recording brilliantly resolves the tension between structured Western orchestration and the fluid, improvisational fire of Carnatic tradition, resulting in a performance of monumental scale.
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BETA
PETER CAT RECORDING CO.
Released 9 August 2024
Peter Cat Publishing Co. / Muddy Water Records / Secretly Distribution
A cinematic, genre-fluid kaleidoscope of psychedelic folk, jazz, and synth-pop that cements Delhi's finest as transcultural indie visionaries.
Formed in New Delhi in 2010 by frontman Suryakant Sawhney, Peter Cat Recording Co. (PCRC) have spent over a decade subverting expectations of the Indian independent music scene. Known for their nomadic, DIY recording style and an unclassifiable sound that marries 1950s ballroom crooning with gypsy jazz, psychedelic rock, and spacey electronics, the five-piece gained international acclaim with 2019's Bismillah. Armed with a multi-instrumental lineup featuring brass, sitar, and synths, PCRC serves as a vital sonic anomaly, capturing a global audience while remaining deeply rooted in a shifting, modern Indian identity.
Following a five-year hiatus, BETA arrives as a masterclass in atmospheric world-building and studio experimentation. Moving away from the brassy punch of their earlier work, the band embraces a deeply intimate, folk-infused, and psychedelic palette. The seven-minute opener "Flowers R. Blooming" sets the stage, melting from field recordings of thunder into a lush tapestry of sitar, saxophone, and manipulated vocals. Single "People Never Change" is a shimmering indie-pop earworm, while the chaotic, fuzz-drenched intro of "Black and White" effortlessly pivots into an infectious, danceable funk-disco groove. Throughout, Sawhney's hypnotic, late-night vocal delivery anchors the band's sonic wanderlust, particularly on stripped-back, melancholic standouts like "I Deny Me."
While the record occasionally meanders in its second half, BETA is a beautifully textured, cinematic journey that thrives on its own eccentric brilliance.
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BETA
PETER CAT RECORDING CO.
Released 9 August 2024
Peter Cat Publishing Co. / Muddy Water Records / Secretly Distribution
A vibrant, sun-drenched fusion of retro Bollywood synth-pop, disco, and contemporary indie that captures the joyful pulse of modern India.
Fursat FM, a solo project by the versatile virtuoso - and Peter Cat Recording Co. member - Rohit Gupta, described by the (sadly, now closed) Anjuna, Goa cafe-cum-Cultural Hub "Flying Goat" as having "evolved to be a hybrid of a multitude of sonic landscapes, juxtaposing ambient music, field recordings, sampling, elements of noise with jazz and folk inspired improvisations on wind & keyboard instruments. The underlining sentiment is to capture an intimate moment of solitude in an effort to evoke and embrace immersive reflective experiences. With slow paced movements, unconventional forms and experimentation, the result is a kind of electro-acoustic music which captures both the complexity and simplicity, aiming to provide immersive reflective experience".
On Eleven Dance, Fursat FM delivers a masterfully paced sonic escape that thrives on rhythm and nostalgic warmth. Moving seamlessly between shimmering synth-wave textures and organic percussion, the album feels like a neon-lit journey through a bustling metropolis. Tracks built around driving four-on-the-floor beats are balanced beautifully by lush, atmospheric interludes that give the record breathing room. The band's strength lies in their ability to evoke the golden era of 1980s South Asian disco-pop without falling into predictable pastiche; instead, they elevate the sound with crisp, punchy modern mixing and sharp instrumental interplay. It is a celebratory, highly danceable collection that perfectly earns its spot on any global indie playlist.
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ALVA KUUTO
ALVA KUUTO
Released 11 April 2025
Alva Kuuto
Draping a 2500-year-old Dravidian language in contemporary soundscapes, this self-titled debut brilliantly bridges ancestral Tulu traditions with modern folk-rock gravity.
Formed in Bengaluru in 2022 by singer-songwriter Praveen Alva, Alva Kuuto ("Alva's Collective") serves as a vital cultural vanguard. They hold the unique distinction of being the only band making music exclusively in Tulu - an ancient, unofficial Dravidian language native to southwestern India's coastal Tulunadu region. Backed by seasoned musicians Abhilash Shet, Anshuman Upadhyay, and Shashank Kandachar, the four-piece effortlessly strips regional folklore of its museum-piece status. By injecting their sound with a robust mixture of alternative rock, 70s-infused funk, and progressive folk, Alva Kuuto introduces historic oral traditions to a modern, global audience.
On their self-titled debut, Alva Kuuto (who bill themselves as "the first and the only Eclectic Tulu Folk Band") crafts an incredibly evocative, rhythmically driving exploration of heritage, regional identity, and human emotion. Frontman Praveen Alva uses his mother tongue to channel diverse thematic textures, ensuring the ancient language carries both soft intimacy and volatile intensity. The record's sonic palette leans heavily on gritty guitar growls, punchy brass flourishes, and deep Hindustani-inflected vocal depth. Standout track "Pageyta Pugey" ("Smoke of Vengeance") perfectly encapsulates their power, using heavy retro-rock grooves and horn accents to paint a mythic portrait of coastal underworld rage. Meanwhile, tracks like "Ashana" and "Gongey" rely on hypnotic percussion and fluid basslines that capture the shifting landscapes of Karnataka. While its unwavering intensity can feel dense over eight tracks, this is offset by the vocal tenderness of "EE" and use of acoustic guitars, especially at song intros.
Overall, ALVA KUUTO is an incredibly bold, genre-bending statement that proudly establishes its own linguistic and musical territory.
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Artificial Integrity
BLACKSTRATBLUES
Released 1 May 2025
Warren Mendonsa
Marrying vintage Pink Floyd-esque synths with pristine guitar wizardry, Warren Mendonsa crafts a vivid, human rock manifesto countering our dystopian digital age.
Blackstratblues is the highly revered instrumental project of Indian guitarist, producer, and composer Warren Mendonsa. Born in Mumbai - where he initially gained cult stardom with indie-rock pioneers Zero - Mendonsa relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, which serves as his primary recording base. This dual identity anchors his music: while albums are conceptualized in Auckland, Blackstratblues operates as a powerhouse live band in India, featuring top-tier Indian instrumentalists. Celebrated by Rolling Stone India as one of the finest guitarists the country has ever produced, Mendonsa deftly weaves emotional blues phrasing, '70s psychedelia, and modern cinematic production.
Stepping away from the traditional blues-trio setup of 2021’s Hindsight Is 2020, Artificial Integrity is a brilliant, semi-dystopian concept album that interrogates our relationship with technology. The record launches with "Prologue," using a glitched, text-to-speech algorithm as a futuristic museum docent before diving into some of Mendonsa's most electronic-heavy arrangements to date. Inspired by vintage Floydian tone libraries, tracks like "Wonder Drugstore" and "Living In The Future" are dense with lush analog synths and complex drum programming. Yet, the heart of the album remains beautifully organic. Mendonsa’s signature Stratocaster sings rather than screams, delivering soaring, melodic hooks on "Scalene Triangles" and the driving, fuzz-laden "Running From The Fuzz." By integrating his daughter's vocal ideas alongside dense synthesized soundscapes, Mendonsa delivers a masterfully textured, deeply human response to an increasingly automated world.
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Phoolon Da Dil (EP)
TANMAYA BHATNAGAR
Released 26 September 2025
Tanmaya Bhatnagar
A delicate, deeply vulnerable indie-folk time capsule that masterfully chronicles the parallel paths of early motherhood and generational grief.
Tanmaya Bhatnagar is a New Delhi-origin indie-folk singer-songwriter now based in Germany. She first captured the indie circuit's heart with her raw 2020 breakthrough single "Kya Tum Naraaz Ho?" and her 2021 English EP Wherever I Go, I'd Like To Be All I Need. Following a two-year stint signing with Sony Music’s DayOne label, Bhatnagar returned to her independent roots to craft her debut Hindi project. Renowned for her mellifluous, diary-honest songwriting, her delicate acoustics, and her vulnerable delivery, she uses her music as a therapeutic sanctuary to navigate complex human emotions, displacement, and shifting life chapters.
Written during her pregnancy and completed just weeks postpartum, Phoolon Sa Dil ("Heart Like Flowers") is a profoundly intimate five-track journey. Co-produced alongside Dhruv Bhola (of Peter Cat Recording Co.) and bassist Amar Pandey, the EP expands Bhatnagar's signature minimalist indie-folk sound with lush pop textures and windswept melodies. The record functions as a dual mirror of beginnings and endings. On "Noor," a breathtakingly tender acoustic lullaby dedicated to her daughter, she captures the warmth of maternal love before touch. Conversely, "Supriya" - named after her mother - wrestles with the aching, complex grief of her mother's long-term battle with schizophrenia. The title track, born from a cathartic piano session, metaphorically charts the fragile yet resilient nature of a heart learning to heal. Unhurried, poetic, and stunningly honest, Phoolon Sa Dil is a soft, comforting masterclass in emotional vulnerability.
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Khud Ko Miloon
TABA CHAKE
Released 10 September 2025
Taba Chake
A sun-kissed, multi-lingual acoustic journey that blends breezy finger-picked folk with introspective soul to find home within oneself.
Hailing from Doimukh in Arunachal Pradesh, Taba Chake is a pioneering fingerstyle guitarist and singer-songwriter who has become one of the most beloved figures in India's independent music landscape. Singing fluently in Hindi, English, and his native Nyishi language, Chake first broke into the mainstream with his critically acclaimed 2019 album Bombay Dreams. Known for his unique percussive guitar playing, bird-call whistling, and deeply optimistic world-view, he crafts highly organic, rootsy indie-folk that effortlessly captures the serene landscapes of Northeast India while addressing universal themes of love, nature, and mental well-being.
Following the massive success of his previous records, Khud Ko Miloon ("To Meet Myself") finds Taba Chake turning his gaze inward for his most reflective body of work yet. The title track anchors the record, floating on a bed of warm acoustic strumming and Chake’s signature, breezy vocal delivery as he sings about the necessity of solitude and self-discovery. Throughout the release, his intricate fingerpicking remains the driving force, but the arrangements are elevated by subtle jazz inflections, lush ambient padding, and crisp percussion that never crowds his intimate storytelling. Tracks like "Udaan" and "Amlori" showcase his innate ability to craft instantly memorable melodies that carry a sense of cinematic wanderlust. While the record stays comfortably within his established sonic wheelhouse, the sheer warmth, sincerity, and comforting nature of Khud Ko Miloon make it an essential, deeply peaceful addition to any global folk playlist.
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Kaalidhar Laapata
(Original Background Score)
TAJDAR JUNAID
Released 8 July 2025
Zee Music Company
A micro-masterpiece of cinematic minimalism, this fragile instrumental score captures deep generational loneliness through shimmering acoustic and ambient textures.
Based in Kolkata, Tajdar Junaid is one of India's most fiercely respected multi-instrumentalists, composers, and independent producers. He first broke into global consciousness with his exquisite 2013 debut album What Colour Is Your Raindrop, a release that caught the attention of master Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Known for his astonishing ability to evoke profound melancholy, nostalgia, and quiet hope, Junaid has since become a premier voice in alternative Indian cinema scoring. Utilizing a diverse instrumental arsenal - including the charango, glockenspiel, and classical guitar - he regularly translates the heavy emotional subtext of indie films and prestige streaming series into delicate, universally resonant audio art.
Clocking in at an incredibly brief nine minutes across nine tracks, Tajdar Junaid’s background score for the Abhishek Bachchan-led drama Kaalidhar Laapata is an exercise in immense emotional restraint. Serving as the ambient tissue to Amit Trivedi's main vocal soundtrack, Junaid leans into his hallmark acoustic intimacy to mirror the film’s themes of memory loss and abandonment. Pieces like "Left To Be Alone" and "Sleeping Under The Stars" are fleeting vignettes, yet they build a surprisingly expansive, windswept world out of sparse guitar plucks, melancholic piano notes, and haunting, low-end atmospheres. The longer tracks, particularly the aching, two-minute "Talking About Old Times," allow Junaid's storytelling to truly breathe, blending rich organic textures with cinematic warmth. While its brief, fragmented nature keeps it grounded strictly as a cinematic companion piece, the sheer soulfulness of Kaalidhar Laapata proves that Junaid doesn't need vast runtimes to break your heart.
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Minus One Season 2 (Original Series Soundtracks)
TAJDAR JUNAID
Released 15 February 2023
Zee Music Company
A poignant, emotionally articulate score that uses delicate multi-instrumental vignettes to capture the bittersweet, fractured geometry of a fading relationship.
Based in Kolkata, Tajdar Junaid is one of India's most fiercely respected multi-instrumentalists, composers, and independent producers. He first broke into global consciousness with his exquisite 2013 debut album What Colour Is Your Raindrop, a release that caught the attention of master Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Known for his astonishing ability to evoke profound melancholy, nostalgia, and quiet hope, Junaid has since become a premier voice in alternative Indian cinema scoring. Utilizing a diverse instrumental arsenal - including the charango, glockenspiel, and classical guitar - he regularly translates the heavy emotional subtext of indie films and prestige streaming series into delicate, universally resonant audio art.
Focusing purely on the mature, unravelling narrative of the show's New Chapter, Tajdar Junaid’s soundtrack for Season 2 showcases the true breadth of his compositional prowess. Tasked with scoring the messy, agonizing heartbreak of a long-term relationship in collapse, Junaid builds a dynamic and deeply moving sonic architecture. The soundtrack seamlessly pivots from sun-dappled, finger-picked acoustic guitar folk that hints at a happier past, to melancholic, string-laden modern classical arrangements that ground the present. While his trademark charango and ukulele make appearances, they are slowly subsumed by brooding piano motifs and ambient synthesizer washes as the emotional rift deepens. Tracks like "A New Day" and the haunting main theme anchor the heavy, cinematic weight of the series. It is an expansive, beautifully realized body of instrumental work that proves Junaid is a master at mapping the intricate valleys of the human heart.
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Arrival of the Ethereal
AGAM
Released 29 August 2025
AGAM
A monumental triumph of Carnatic progressive rock, fusing ancient classical structures with sprawling, explosive post-rock landscapes of staggering technical brilliance.
Formed in Bengaluru in 2003, Agam ("The Inner Self") are the undisputed pioneers and standard-bearers of contemporary Carnatic progressive rock. Fronted by the virtuosic Harish Sivaramakrishnan, whose soaring vocals are deeply rooted in traditional South Indian classical music, the multi-piece outfit bridges two seemingly disparate worlds. By pairing intricate, complex classical compositions (kritis and ragas) with the heavy, polyrhythmic instrumentation of modern progressive metal and post-rock, Agam has built a massive global following, transforming sacred, centuries-old melodic frameworks into a dynamic, stadium-level sonic experience.
Following a long studio absence, Arrival Of The Ethereal stands as Agam's most ambitious and innovative project to date. This is not simple fusion; it is a profound, seamless alchemy where heavy progressive metal riffs and vast, climactic post-rock textures serve the classical narrative rather than overtaking it. The album feels like a sprawling cinematic score, shifting endlessly from quiet, meditative moments of intense spiritual longing to explosive, polyrhythmic crescendos. Sivaramakrishnan’s pristine, microtonal vocal delivery is nevertheless spellbinding, navigating complex rhythmic cycles (talas) alongside thunderous, interlocking guitar solos and dense drum patterns. Although for some, the music's underlying ambiguity due to compression of the fully-blown majesty of Carnartic and Prog Rock, will be too much for comfort, the production is immaculately layered, allowing the traditional violin lines and heavy bass room to breathe.
For readers seeking boundary-erasing musical theatricality, Arrival Of The Ethereal - especially in live performance - will no doubt be a breathtaking candidate for a night of ecstatic indulgence. For the rest, it's probably OTT.
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KALI
DITTY
Released 7 March 2025
Clouds Hill
A haunting, beautifully minimalist eco-folk masterpiece that channels ancestral grief and environmental resistance into an intimate whisper of profound power.
Ditty is the moniker of Aditi Veena, an independent singer-songwriter, poet, and urbanist based between Goa, India, and Berlin, Germany. As one of South Asia’s most vital eco-artists, she treats her music as an urgent extension of her environmental activism. Following her critically acclaimed 2019 debut Poetry Earth, Ditty solidified her unique space in the global indie scene by organizing India’s first carbon-neutral musical tour. Her signature sound relies on stark, spacious acoustic arrangements, field recordings of the natural world, and a delicate, conversational vocal delivery that carries the weight of a generation grieving a changing planet.
Released fittingly on Earth Day, KALI is a breathtakingly intimate, five-star triumph that strips away all pretense to deliver raw emotional truth. Moving far away from polished studio production, Ditty anchors the album around fragile acoustic fingerpicking, hushed piano chords, and ambient sounds recorded directly in nature. Thematic inspiration comes from the fierce goddess Kali, utilizing the archetypes of radical destruction and renewal to confront modern environmental collapse and corporate greed. The title track, which opens the album and others, like "Money" and "Death of a River", are deceptively gentle, wrapping devastating, razor-sharp critiques in gorgeous, floating melodies. Her voice sounds remarkably close, like a late-night confession whispered straight into your ear. By balancing deep grief for the earth with a fierce, quiet resilience, KALI stands as a masterclass in minimalist songwriting and an undeniable candidate for album of the year.
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Shoharat
HANITA BHAMBRI
Released 16 May 2025
Hanita Bhambri
A visceral, jaw-dropping pivot into dark pop that trading acoustic vulnerability for unfiltered feminine rage, industry disillusionment, and brilliant sonic horror.
Hanita Bhambri is a Mumbai-based singer-songwriter who originally captured hearts across the Indian indie circuit with her delicate, melancholic acoustic folk. However, burning out from the crushing, exploitative realities of the music business and personal betrayal, Bhambri completely alchemized her pain into a striking new identity. Relocating from her familiar surroundings, she linked up with producer Sagar Dhote to strip away her old acoustic boundaries. Refusing to censor herself, Bhambri steps into her power as a formidable dark-pop architect, fearlessly channeling her anger, resilience, and survival into a magnificent, uncompromising artistic reinvention.
Shoharat is a brilliant, 11-track masterpiece that marks one of the most thrilling sonic pivots in contemporary Indian music. Breaking entirely from her folksy past, Bhambri leans heavily into heavy distortion, eerie goth-pop aesthetics, and sharp electronic production. The transition is breathtakingly executed; the haunting, cinematic tension of "Daayan" explores feminine rage with brilliant horror elements, while the spritely zitaar solo on "Kadva" provides an unexpected, dazzling spark. From the cheeky, bossa-nova-tinged diss track "macchar" to the crushing, defiant title track, the album weaves relative major and minor keys seamlessly to map an volatile emotional landscape. It is messy, unfiltered, and deeply magnificent.
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