Over the past few years, one feature of the Indian recorded indie music scene has been the clutter of releases. Every week, one hears of numerous newcomers putting out singles or EPs, all promising to be unique.
On the one hand, in all this overflow, one actually discovers some good artistes and songs. Yet, there are also tunes which get lost in the crowd. Parallelly, there are songs which get a lot of YouTube views because the artiste and his promoters have good PR skills, though they may not be the best in terms of quality.
Unlike in the past, when sales determined an album’s success, there is no fixed pattern today. Yes, a song like rapper Hanumankind’s Big Dawgs is a guaranteed success because it reached No 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, besides topping India’s IMI International charts. But there are many which may paint an exaggerated picture. Some artistes use YouTube views to prove their success, but these can be doctored. Still others talk of winning awards, but then different indie awards recognise different artistes, depending on what entries are sent and who is on the jury. If a label or streaming channel blindly pushes certain acts, they are considered more successful. Some musicians have their own fan base, but are unable to crack the mass audience.
That’s how things are, and one doesn’t see much change soon. But given the scheme of things, one hopes the better songs and albums get noticed. From the 2024 releases, one can list many songs which were brilliant in their own right, and though they received a good response from fans and select listeners, probably deserved much wider recognition or longer shelf life. Here are 15 such songs – five Hindi, five English and five in regional languages. These are entirely this columnist’s choices, in no particular order.
An obvious Hindi favourite is Piya by singer Divyam Sodhi and producer Khwaab. It’s a simple song about companionship, set against a catchy guitar line. Divyam has been hugely influenced by ghazals and Punjabi folk, and has a pleasant voice. Next would be UK-based Nitin Sawhney’s Insaan (Home), featuring classical vocalist Ankita Joshi. The song has an electronic base which blends with the classical nuances and outstanding vocals.
Then, there’s the Sufi-rock track Ishq by Kashmiri artistes Faheem Abdullah and Rauhan Malik, based on Pakistani poet Amir Ameer’s creation Chal Aa Aisi Nazm Likhoon, and featuring swank guitars. Pune band Antaheen’s song Ankahi Baatein has a good mix of a catchy tune, sung by Amar Kulkarni, and acoustic guitar, played by Vinay Kaushal. Rounding off the Hindi list is singer-songwriter Gini’s Chaukhat. Though she’s in her late teens, there’s a certain maturity in her writing and rendition.
Among the English songs is Kolkata artiste Jaimin’s No Vices, a duet with Kadambari Zokarkar about two people trying to get to know each other. Jaimin had released the fabulous album Cutting Loose in 2022, and proves his songwriting mettle once again. Delhi singer Winston Balman’s country-rock tune Fight On, which talks of moving on from a soured relationship, has some fantastic vocals and a sizzling guitar solo.
Young Gurgaon-based singer Aadya Jaswal shows her songwriting prowess on Cavern, using imagery to describe the feeling of being weighed down. Delhi-based alternative group Peter Cat Recording Co had a fantastic album in Beta, from which the song People Never Change is a favourite, with its changing themes. Finally, there’s Ahmedabad music composer Chirag Todi who makes his debut as vocalist on Walking On A Minefield.
The five regional songs are Dhruv Ghanekar’s O Sorothia, featuring Assamese singer Kalpana Patowary, Amrit Ramnath’s Tamil beauty Kanavugal Kanden, The Tapi Project’s Gujarati number Varsaad, featuring a Kannada passage by Raghu Dixit, Varijashree Venugopal’s Kannada tune Summaniru and Vibha Saraf’s beautiful Kashmiri tune Habbakhatoon 3.
These are just a few of the many indie gems released in the year. The flip side is that a lot of average stuff got hyped, but then, that’s always been the case.
