Delhi’s and Peter Cat Recording Company’s (among other things) Mr. Suryakant Sawnhey did something truly unusual last year under his solo project Lifafa; he released an album that couldn’t really be argued with. ‘Jaago’ was almost above disagreement and was easily one of the (if not the) albums of the year. It was half an hour of an experimental and daring electronica-disco-Bollywood fever dream that provided as many surprises as it did catharsis. Obviously, such great work unfortunately builds up a reputation to live up to, but hey. His new single ‘Laash’ does exactly that.

It must be said that some things are a bit ‘less so’ than the material on ‘Jaago’. Lifafa sacrifices the furious beat switches and bombast for a more smooth and low-key presentation. There are obviously carefully placed layers of electronics and samples in the mix here, but they are much more understand and let his vocals take even more of a central stage. And that’s not something anyone’s going to complain about, given that he has a buttery smooth broadcaster-level voice that most of our population would kill to have and his vocal delivery is inimitably romantic in a way. The rose-tinted piano and subtle synths help that side of it greatly. However, there is a quiet and maybe vague undertone of grit and unease that isn’t particularly obvious (without the video, where it just might be slightly more easy to see; no spoilers); there is a chance that the ideas here might be a bit more hard-hitting with the context of a full project. And that’s hopefully coming soon-ish. Joy.