Kabir Bhattacharya is a 17-year old guitarist whose guitar-centric EP ‘Mood Machine’ is his debut longform release, with six tracks and eighteen minutes of music. Listening to the first release of a young artist should not be as academic and judgmental of an experience as usual; one would expect slight aberrations and decisions that (rightly so) lack the maturity that age brings. This case is a pleasant surprise in that regard; ‘Mood Machine’ has a host of good ideas and music that more than stands up on its own. Hell, there isn’t much to complain about here at all, and that bodes extremely well for the future.

The EP starts off with an interlude ‘Aarambh’ that is just a sort of mood-setting device, but things kick off in earnest with ‘Rain’, which is the first in a series of genre-jumping tracks. The overall sound of all the music is more or less constant throughout, so the listening experience is smooth even though the songs jump between atmospheres in an always surprising way. ‘Rain’ is a smouldering and slow-burning presentation of stoner rock, grunge and sludgy tones. It is accompanied by a menacing bassline that drives it like nobody’s business; besides the solo which is in parts a bit too bombastic for its context, there is plenty of 2000s riffage on show here, and it works. ‘Open Fields’ is the chilled-out mood piece of the EP and it more than does its job, but the really fun stuff in contained in the last three tracks. ‘Soar’ is a full-on tap-fest with some mean grooves and the kind of swirling lines modern prog is in love with. ‘Cosmos’ is a furious and high-tempo space trip with a keyboard solo and some serious energy, and the closing track ‘Cerebral Warfare’ is the most lowkey and playful piece here. All said, ‘Mood Machine’ has a ton of moments that augur well for Kabir and his musical endeavours. The fact that this has this much potential this early is more than commendable.

Listen to 'Mood Machine' here.