I have a confession to make: I’ve always been the worst at discovering new music. Friends would get the coolest tracks on LimeWire (shout out to an oldie!) while I would struggle to find one decent song. But as I grew older, and finally understood how to discover new music (the trick is to listen to every single thing you find) I made it my personal responsibility to ensure that everyone I was around was listening to good music. From friends to parents (and parents of friends) I plagued pretty much everyone around me with solid song recommendations – and now it’s your turn.
One of the best things to come out of the previous year was the sheer amount of grade-A music coming out of the Indian indie music scene. As artists who were locked in created more and more music, us listeners were in for a treat. But in situations where you may feel like you’re spoilt for a choice, we’ve got you covered. Here are the eight songs by Indian indie musicians that absolutely need to be on your playlist:
1. ‘Mundane’ By Mali
Don’t let the name fool you, because the song is anything but mundane. The dreamy, soft track, which underpins the fact that life remains mundane no matter where you go unless of course, you do something about it, will have you losing yourself in an elongated daydream about what could be.
2. ‘Ganga Hotel’ By Faraway Friends
Ganga Hotel tells the story of how the Faraway Friends collective came to being. With Keno, Ditty and David Raddish, who met at a hotel in Varanasi by the Ganges River, the playful track is a fascinating look into their narrative.
3. ‘Mishri’ By Anuv Jain
With imagery of the night sky, the stars and dreams, Mishri by Anuv Jain is a beautiful song that’ll transport you into another world, complete with soulful lyrics.
4. ‘Laash’ By Lifafa
After teasing his upcoming album ‘Superpower 2020’, Suryakant Sawhney A.K.A. Lifafa released the first track recently. With smooth, low-key layers of electronics and his voice taking centre stage, we’re definitely vibing to the music.
5. ‘Broken’ By Anisha AOD
Anisha Uppal, better known as Anisha AOD’s single, Broken explores the territories of dark-pop as she croons about heartbreak on mellow beats. Excuse us while this becomes our dark-pop anthem for the rest of the year.
6. ‘Chicken Lemon Rice’ By Priya Ragu
An upbeat, joyful track by the über talented Priya Ragu, we can’t get enough of Chicken Lemon Rice. Recipe not included, though.
7. ‘Ocean Tide’ By When Chai Met Toast
The fourth release from when Chai Met Toast’s debut album, Ocean Tide is a light-hearted take on the ups and downs of an unsteady relationship and will make you reminiscent of your own high school relationships.
8. ‘Khoya Sa’ By Sanjeeta Bhattacharya And Aman Sagar
Sanjeeta Bhattacharya’s first Hindi collaboration, soulful r&b track Khoya Sa, tells a story revolving around two women in the 21st century sub-urban India who are confused by their own cultural notions of conventional love. We love to see it.
